Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO SCHOOL MEALS.

Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, requires the Department of Education to provide free breakfast and lunch to students enrolled in a public school who meet certain requirements. Reduces the amount the Department of Education is authorized to charge for school meals to all students enrolled in department schools to no more than an unspecified portion of the cost of preparing the meals. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Scot Z. MatayoshiDemocrat

RELATING TO THE RENTAL HOUSING REVOLVING FUND.

Establishes the Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount within the Rental Housing Revolving Fund. Specifies permissible uses of funding and priorities. Authorizes the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to transfer funds between the Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount and the Rental Housing Revolving Fund without legislative approval. Appropriates funds. Takes effect 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Exempts certain state-financed housing developments from the requirement to obtain approval from the applicable county council. Authorizes a county planning director to reject certain permit applications due to a lack of infrastructure. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO ETHICS ADMINISTRATIVE FINES.

Establishes uniform provisions for the assessment of administrative penalties under the State Ethics Code and Lobbyist Law.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO JURY DUTY.

Increases the amount each juror or prospective juror is paid for each day of actual attendance at court. Appropriates funds. Effective 4/23/2057. (SD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE EXAMINATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS.

Establishes the amount of compensation for private-sector examiners who evaluate a criminal defendant's penal responsibility or fitness to proceed in a legal case. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE VICTIM WITNESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

Appropriates funds as a grant-in-aid to the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the Victim Witness Assistance Program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR CAREER CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

Appropriates funds to the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu for the career criminal prosecution unit. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HIGHWAY SAFETY.

Amends the offense of negligent injury in the first degree to include bodily injuries negligently inflicted by intoxicated drivers. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO SEXUAL OFFENSES AGAINST MINORS.

Increases the penalty for promoting minor-produced sexual images to a felony if the person is more than three years older than the minor. Extends the probationary term for felony obscenity offenses. Tolls the statute of limitations for obscenity offenses during a victim's minority. Requires sex offender registration for felony obscenity offenses involving minors. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PROCUREMENT.

Amends the procurement thresholds for small purchases. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO ORDERS FOR PROTECTION.

Reinstates mandatory minimum jail sentences for successive violations of the same order for protection. Removes the distinction between domestic and non-domestic violations of an order for protection. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS.

Repeals existing statutory language that: declares that the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices are a statewide concern; and preempts all local ordinances and regulations that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

Requires newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline to include denitrification capacity. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO CESSPOOLS.

Accelerates the deadlines for the required upgrades, conversions, or connections of priority level 1 and priority level 2 cesspools to 2035 and 2040, respectively, and repeals the 1/1/2050 deadline for the upgrade, conversion, or connection of all remaining cesspools. Before 1/1/2050, requires the Director of Health to prepare and submit to the Legislature an inventory of every remaining cesspool in the State as of 1/1/2045, including cesspools that were granted exemptions by the Director of Health, recommending whether or not and by what date the cesspool should be: (1) Upgraded or converted to a Director-approved wastewater system; or (2) Connected to a sewerage system. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Requires the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to consider additional preferential factors when supplying housing or assistance in obtaining housing. Requires the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to determine the order of preferences and rank applicants, select applicants based on application date, and validate the preference status of applicants. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Repeals the sunset provision in Act 45, SLH 2024, related to the counties' authorization to develop, construct, finance, refinance, or otherwise provide mixed-use developments. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

Prohibits state legislators from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular session or special session of the Legislature, including any extension of any regular session or special session or any legislative recess day, holiday, or weekend. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PARTIAL PUBLIC FINANCING OF ELECTIONS.

Increases the amount of partial public campaign financing available for all elective offices. Adjusts the minimum amount of qualifying contributions certain candidates must receive to participate in the program. Increases the matching fund payments for excess qualifying contributions. Appropriates funds for the program and staff. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

Prohibits state or county grantees and officers and immediate family members of state or county contractors or grantees from contributing to candidate or noncandidate committees, candidates, or any person for any political purpose for the duration of the contract. Requires any unlawful contribution to be returned to the contributor or it will escheat to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund. Requires disclosures of the names of any officers and immediate adult family members of a state or county contractor or grantee for contracts exceeding a certain amount. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO BUILDING PERMITS.

Allows for county permit exemptions for certain kinds of activities, including maintenance activities, installing group U structures, and certain interior remodeling work, when located outside a special management area. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE SUN SCREENING DEVICES.

Exempts from restrictions on light transmittance percentages, up to a certain percent, of certain motor vehicle sun screening devices for persons having light sensitivity of the eyes due to a medical condition. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO ANIMAL CONTROL.

Establishes the Spay and Neuter Special Fund to reduce pet overpopulation, including the free-roaming cat population, and authorizes an income tax designation to provide revenues into the special fund. Requires that female cats over the age of three months and male cats over the age of five months be surgically sterilized, with certain exceptions. Authorizes county animal control authorities to establish and enforce a permit program to allow the responsible breeding of cats. Establishes minimum requirements for breeding permits and penalties. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. Applies to taxable years after 12/31/2025. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Requires contested cases, environmental assessment cases, or environmental impact statement cases involving renewable energy projects over twenty megawatts in size, except cases that involve any form of incineration, to be appealed from an agency's decision directly to the Hawaii Supreme Court for final decision. Requires the cases to be prioritized and decided expeditiously. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO AQUACULTURE.

Prohibits certain octopus aquaculture. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO EXCITED DELIRIUM.

Prohibits excited delirium from being recognized as a valid medical diagnosis or cause of death in the State. Prohibits a medical examiner, coroner, or health care provider from stating on a certificate of death or in any report that the cause of death was excited delirium. Prohibits law enforcement officers from using the term excited delirium to describe an individual in an incident report. Establishes a new Hawaii Rule of Evidence that deems evidence that a person experienced or suffered an excited delirium inadmissible in a civil action. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Gregg TakayamaDemocrat

RELATING TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS.

Requires all public buildings, including public school buildings, constructed after January 1, 2026, to be designed to withstand category five hurricanes and be used as shelters in the event of an emergency. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO ENERGY.

Expands the types of water heater systems that may satisfy the relevant requirement for the issuance of a building permit for new single-family dwellings to include ENERGY STAR certified heat pump water heaters. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO SINGLE-USE PLASTICS.

Beginning 7/1/2026 for lodging establishments with more than fifty sleeping room accommodations, and beginning 1/1/2028 for lodging establishments with fifty or fewer sleeping room accommodations, prohibits the provision of personal care products in small plastic containers within sleeping room accommodations, any space within sleeping room accommodations, or bathrooms used by the public or guests. Establishes civil penalties. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.

Provides rebates for the installation of eligible electric vehicle-ready parking stalls for new construction of affordable housing. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.

Requires the design of all new state building construction where parking is to be included to provide that a number of the parking stalls, as determined by the Department of Accounting and General Services, shall be electric vehicle charger-ready. Requires the Hawaii State Energy Office, in consultation with the Department of Accounting and General Services and Department of Transportation, to conduct a survey and identify certain high-priority state facilities. Establishes a goal of the State to retrofit state facilities to be electric vehicle charger-ready. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD2)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE GAS TARIFF.

Requires gas utilities to file a proposed initial renewable gas tariff or tariffs with the Public Utilities Commission by August 31, 2025. Requires the Public Utilities Commission to approve or modify a renewable gas tariff within six months of receiving a proposed renewable gas tariff. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO ELECTRIC UTILITIES.

Part I: Requires the Public Utilities Commission to impose certain conditions of approval on any order approving, in whole or in part, an application for the proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation of an electric utility company by an acquiring entity. Establishes a process to ensure that when an electric utility is subject to an application for a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation by a potential acquiring entity that is an investor-owned utility and seeks approval of the application from the Public Utilities Commission, it must demonstrate that it solicited bids from potential acquiring entities that operate under a non-investor-owned utility ownership model. Requires the electric utility to submit those acceptable bids concurrently with an application by a potential acquiring entity that is an investor-owned utility. Part II: Authorizes the issuance of reimbursable GO bonds for acquiring Hawaiian Electric Industries and converting it to a publicly owned utility. Authorizes the establishment of a non-bypassable electric utility conversion charge, to be deposited into the new Electric Utility Conversion Special Fund. Appropriates Funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Specifies that adjustments required to compensate for certain unavoidable increases in financing costs, if proven by a producer of nonfossil fuel generated electricity by clear and convincing evidence, are mechanisms for reasonable and appropriate incremental adjustments that the Public Utilities Commission may include in the rate payable to the producer. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO TRAFFIC CITATIONS.

Establishes that intentional destruction or damage to a traffic camera is a class C felony. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO RECYCLING.

Establishes a lithium-ion battery recycling working group within the Department of Health to assess recycling methods for small and medium format lithium-ion batteries. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO PERMITS.

Establishes an exemption from applicable county permit requirements for repetitive construction projects for facilities under the control of any state department or agency, under certain conditions. Clarifies that, except for projects in special flood hazard areas, contracts for the construction, renovation, or repair of facilities under the control of the Department of Education, University of Hawaii, or School Facilities Authority shall be exempt from county permitting requirements that related off-site improvements be made by the contracting government agency as a condition to the issuance of any permit. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO SCHOOL IMPACT FEES.

Places oversight of the School Impact Fee Program under the School Facilities Authority Board. Directs the School Facilities Authority Board to carry out the processes and procedures conducted by the Board of Education to dissolve a school impact district upon the transfer of oversight of the School Impact Fee Program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO STATE CHILDCARE.

Appropriates funds to the Office of the Governor for a state childcare facility for state employees and their families. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Adrian K. TamDemocrat

RELATING TO SCHOOL MEALS.

Requires the Department of Education to authorize and facilitate complex areas or individual public schools to form their own farm to school meal programs through partnerships to meet the local farm to school meal goal of thirty per cent of food served in the school to consist of locally sourced products by 2030. Allows the Department of Education to establish a plant-based meal program no later than the 2026-2027 school year. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO BABY BONDS.

Establishes the Wealth Building Working Group to develop a plan for the creation of a baby bonds program for the State to address intergenerational poverty and wealth inequality in Hawaii. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO MEDICAL CANNABIS.

Prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment based on the person's status as a medical cannabis registry card holder, under certain conditions. Authorizes an employer to use a fit-for-duty test for medical cannabis qualifying patients in potentially dangerous occupations. Exempts certain occupations. Effective July 1, 3000. (HD1)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING.

Establishes the Teacher Housing Assistance Program to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible teachers. Appropriates funds out of the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO VOTER REGISTRATION.

Authorizes state agencies to implement automatic voter registration if designated by the Office of Elections. Requires eligible applicants for instruction permits, provisional licenses, driver's licenses, and identification cards to be automatically registered or preregistered to vote unless the applicant opts out. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Exempts from the crime of cruelty to animals in the second degree the extermination of insects, vermin, and pests, and the extermination of feral chickens on private property by the property owner, under certain conditions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Cory M. ChunDemocrat

RELATING TO ADAPTATION PATHWAYS PLANNING.

Requires the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to develop adaptation pathways plans to modify and relocate development and associated infrastructure away from critically vulnerable areas to locations outside of sea level rise and coastal flooding exposure area. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO FISHPONDS.

Establishes a fishpond inventory working group within the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program to create an inventory and map of all fishponds on state land and conduct a literature review. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Mahina PoepoeDemocrat

RELATING TO SPECIAL NUMBER PLATES.

Authorizes the issuance of special number plates to recognize the island of Kahoolawe. Specifies the decal size for all special number organizational plates. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Mahina PoepoeDemocrat