Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.

Repeals the prohibition placed on certain employees exempt from Civil Service Law from grieving a suspension or discharge. Allows any employee who is a member of an appropriate bargaining unit to grieve a suspension or discharge. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

AQUINO

RELATING TO EQUITY.

Requires all places of public accommodation and public entity constructions constructed after 7/31/2026, to provide universal changing accommodations that are equally accessible regardless of gender.

AQUINO

RELATING TO SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES.

Establishes a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Fee Program to be administered by the Department of Health that, beginning 7/1/2026, imposes a fee on the distribution and sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in the State. Establishes the Healthy Ohana Special Fund into which revenues generated from the sugar-sweetened beverage fee are deposited. Establishes the Healthy Ohana Trust Fund in the private sector to receive revenues from the Healthy Ohana Special Fund to support prevention and control of obesity and chronic diseases. Allows the Department to contract with a third party to administer the program. Requires the Auditor to conduct a management and financial audit of the program and submit reports to the Legislature. Establishes the Healthy Ohana Trust Fund Advisory Committee to advise the Department on the administration of the trust fund. Requires the Department to adopt interim rules no later than 6/30/2026, and final rules no later than 12/31/2027. Establishes civil penalties. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

Requires the independent medical examination and permanent impairment rating examination of an injured employee under the Workers' Compensation Law to be conducted by a qualified physician selected by the mutual agreement of the parties and paid for by the employer. In absence of a mutual agreement, requires the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to appoint a duly qualified impartial physician to be paid by the employer.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO THE ESTATE TAX.

Amends the exclusion amount of Hawaii's estate tax. Repeals exemption for tax imposed on transfer of taxable estate located in Hawaii for nonresidents and nonresidents who are not citizens. Applicable to decedents dying or taxable transfers occurring after 12/31/2024. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO PROPERTY FORFEITURE.

Restricts civil asset forfeiture to cases involving the commission of a felony offense where the property owner has been convicted of an underlying felony offense. Directs forfeiture proceeds to the general fund. Amends the allowable expenses for moneys in the Criminal Forfeiture Fund. Requires the Attorney General to adopt rules necessary to carry out the purpose of the Hawaii Omnibus Criminal Forfeiture Act. Amends the deadline for the Attorney General to report to the Legislature on the use of the Hawaii Omnibus Criminal Forfeiture Act. Limits the transfer of certain forfeiture property to federal agencies. Establishes records requirements.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO SHORELINE SETBACKS.

Increases shoreline setback requirements.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO DEPOSIT BEVERAGE CONTAINER REDEMPTION.

Repeals the exemptions for certain dealers of deposit beverage containers and related provisions. Requires all dealers of deposit beverage containers to operate as redemption centers. Effective 7/1/2026.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO BAIL.

Requires judges to make certain findings regarding a defendant's ability to afford bail.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE.

Requires insurers to notify the Insurance Commissioner of all existing motor vehicle insurance policies and whenever the insurer issues, cancels, terminates, or does not renew a motor vehicle insurance policy. Requires the Insurance Commissioner to use the insurance policy information to create an electronic database to provide law enforcement and the courts with instant insurance verification. Appropriates funds.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Requires suppliers of water in the State to adjust the level of fluoride in its public water system in conformance with a standard published by the Board of Water Supply of each county until the issuance of a proclamation by the Governor declaring the date on which all residents of the State have either obtained or affirmatively rejected dental insurance coverage and provide a certified copy to the Revisor of Statutes. Requires the Department of Health to provide suppliers of water with technical assistance and training and submit annual status reports to the Legislature regarding the public water systems' status of compliance with the fluoride adjustment requirement. Allows the Department of Health to reimburse suppliers of water for necessary expenses incurred for compliance. Requires the Department of Health to monitor dental insurance coverage of the State's residents, submit annual status reports to the Legislature, and upon confirmation that all residents of the State have either obtained or affirmatively rejected dental insurance coverage, submit a written verification to the Governor. Requires the Governor to issue a proclamation. Appropriates funds.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO FIREARMS POSSESSION.

Requires individuals denied a firearm permit or otherwise disqualified from possessing firearms and certain defendants to provide a sworn statement that the individual has disposed of any firearms and ammunition in the individual's possession. Requires the applicable chief of police to search firearm permit and registration records for those individuals before serving a protective order or restraining order involving firearms or ammunition, and to seize any firearms or ammunition that were not disposed of. Requires police to seize firearms and ammunition in domestic abuse cases that are in plain view of the officer or discovered by consensual search.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO ENTERPRISE ZONES.

Amends the definition of "eligible business activity" for enterprise zone program purposes to include retail sales of tangible personal property manufactured and sold in the enterprise zone that is to be used or consumed by the purchaser and not for resale, the processing of value-added agricultural products grown within an enterprise zone, and the provision of professional services by health care professionals in health care related sectors.

Lynn DeCoiteDemocrat

RELATING TO ALLOWANCE ON SERVICE RETIREMENTS.

Adds definitions for certain Department of Law Enforcement employees. Establishes guidance for the computation of retirement benefits for the Director of Law Enforcement, Deputy Director of the Department of Law Enforcement, Sheriff Division Investigator, Sheriff, and Department of Law Enforcement Investigator.

Lynn DeCoiteDemocrat

RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

Allows a retirant employed as an investigator identified by the Department of Law Enforcement or Department of the Attorney General as a labor shortage or difficult-to-fill position to be rehired without reenrollment in the Employees' Retirement System and without a loss or interruption of retirement benefits, subject to certain conditions. Requires annual reports to the Legislature to include details on the employment of retirants as investigators.

Lynn DeCoiteDemocrat

RELATING TO THE FILM INDUSTRY.

Requires counties to waive permitting fees for certain film activity. Exempts entertainment payroll companies from the GET. Repeals an income tax exemption for persons engaged in the business of motion picture and television film production for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2023. Amends the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit by providing an additional credit to qualified productions with a workforce of at least eighty percent local hires; requiring productions to contact all local labor unions servicing Hawaii's film industry to qualify for the credit; requiring qualified production costs of a taxpayer that exceed $1,000,000 to be certified by a CPA, rather than via tax opinion; increasing the aggregate cap amount on credits allowed in any given year, ramped down by one-sixth over five years beginning on 1/1/2028; and including broadcast and streaming platform productions under the credit. Applies the GET rate for manufacturers to productions. Exempts from the GET amounts received by a motion picture project employer from a client equal to amounts that are disbursed by the motion picture project employer for employee wages, salaries, payroll taxes, insurance premiums, and employment benefits and payments to loan-out companies. Repeals certain tax exemptions and the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit on 1/1/2033. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Lynn DeCoiteDemocrat

PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH A CONTINUOUS LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

Establishes a continuous Legislature. Requires the Legislature to convene at least once each month. Repeals language regarding special sessions, adjournment, and recesses. Creates a 2-year deadline for a bill to be submitted for gubernatorial consideration. Standardizes the number of days that the Governor must approve or veto a bill submitted for consideration. Requires the passage of the legislative budget within 45 days before the end of each fiscal year. Prohibits members of the legislature from holding any position of employment in the private sector during their term. Authorizes members to serve in the United States military reserves, National Guard, or hold any lawful position of government employment, subject to certain current ethical limitations. Establishes salaries of the members of the Legislature pursuant to recommendations by the Commission on Salaries submitted during the 2028 regular session, unless those recommendations are amended by law.

Stanley ChangDemocrat

RELATING TO SOCIAL WORK.

Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in collaboration with the Department of Human Services, to develop and establish a social work training program to assist nonviolent incarcerated individuals in the area of social work. Requires progress reports on the program to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Stanley ChangDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Requires waste combustion facility owners to implement continuous monitoring and sampling technologies for the purposes of collecting data regarding emissions. Establishes a publicly available website hosted by the Department of Health that will track and display data collected on emissions. Requires the DOH to adjust permit limits for air contaminants based on emissions data collected. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO SCHOOL MEALS.

Authorizes the Department of Education to establish a recognition program to incentivize schools to submit to the Department a plan for the school to reach 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. Requires public high schools under the Department of Education to provide plantbased meals as an option under the school meals program.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATED TO TOXIC CHEMICALS.

Establishes a temporary working group in the Office of the Governor to investigate the existence and environmental dangers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and related chemicals. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT.

Requires a wastewater treatment works to test sewage sludge and any other residual material for the presence of PFAS. Requires the Department of Health to adopt administrative rules for the safe disposal and sequestration of sewage sludge and other residual material that contain specific amounts of PFAS. Prohibits the issuance or renewal of permits if testing yields PFAS in sewage sludge or other residual material on land used for agronomic purposes, on land where drainage tiles have been installed, on land that drains into waters of the State, or land in a five hundred-year floodplain. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO SPECIAL PERMITS.

Authorizes the Land Use Commission to designate another agency, including the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Department of Agriculture, or Agribusiness Development Corporation, to monitor compliance with any restrictions imposed in a special permit.

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.

Establishes an External Audit Committee within the University of Hawaii to audit the University of Hawaii System and the Board of Regents. Requires annual reports to the Legislature.

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Grants the Public Utilities Commission the ability to authorize preferential rates for the purchase of renewable energy from facilities that meet certain prevailing wage requirements. Requires public utilities to forward certain requests for preferential rates to the PUC for approval. Appropriates funds.

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS.

Establishes within the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority the Condominium Loan Program to provide qualified condominium associations with low-cost financing or refinancing on previously obtained loans for maintenance and essential repairs. Establishes the Condominium Loan Loss Reserves Program to incentivize lenders into providing loans at competitive rates and terms for the purpose of allowing condominium associations to make necessary maintenance or repairs. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds into and out of the Condominium Loan Revolving Fund. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO ELECTRIC BICYCLES.

Requires all riders of a high-speed electric bicycle who are under 18 years of age or in a restraining seat or trailer towed by the bicycle to wear a safety helmet. Requires licensure of high-speed electric bicycle operators. Defines "high-speed electric bicycle."

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO INVASIVE SPECIES.

Establishes a two-year coconut rhinoceros beetle eradication pilot program in certain areas under the Department of Land and Natural Resources that incentivizes community members to collect and submit the coconut rhinoceros beetle and its larvae for compensation. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

RELATING TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Establishes an Audit Office within the Board of Education to audit operations and expenditures of the Department of Education. Exempts positions within the Audit Office from civil service law. Requires annual reports to the Governor and Director of Finance. Authorizes the Legislature to request a copy of the annual reports. Establishes positions within the Audit Office. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Donovan M. Dela CruzDemocrat

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.

Stanley ChangDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Requires rental housing projects to maintain, in perpetuity, fifty per cent of the project's units for certain low-income tenants to be eligible for assistance under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation's rental assistance program.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO GOVERNMENT PROPERTY.

Transfers from the Department of Land and Natural Resources certain state boating facilities on Maui to the County of Maui with the corresponding revenue from those harbors. Appropriates funds.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO MARINA RESTORATION.

Establishes a procedure for the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease fast lands and submerged lands that were destroyed by an event triggering a Presidential Disaster Declaration.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO THE SCHOOL FACILITIES AUTHORITY.

Changes the qualifications and appointment process for members of the School Facilities Authority Board.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO TAXATION.

Provides that a tax credit for low-income housing that exceeds the taxpayer's income tax liability for a taxable year may be used as a credit against the taxpayer's income tax liability in subsequent taxable years, but not after the tenth subsequent taxable year.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREAS.

Designates each county as the special management area authority within the county's respective jurisdiction. Makes conforming amendments.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Requires the Department of Transportation to inspect personal aircraft that enter the State and land at state airports for the purpose of preventing the unauthorized transportation of fireworks and article pyrotechnic into the State. Requires the Department to coordinate with an appropriate law enforcement agency or county fire department to dispose of prohibited fireworks and articles pyrotechnic.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Makes financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver a Class A felony.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO TAX EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTABILITY.

Requires laws that enact, modify, or extend the availability of a tax expenditure to contain specific information, revenue estimates, and analyses before becoming law. Allows the disclosure of certain tax credit information.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE TIRES.

Requires tire retailers to collect and submit to the Department of Health certain information relating to tires sold by the retailer. Requires the Department of Health to establish and maintain a database containing this information.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO NUISANCE ABATEMENT.

Requires the court to impose a mandatory fine per violation for nuisance abatement laws related to gambling offenses. Allows citizens who bring civil nuisance abatement suits against places used for illegal gambling the same rights and protections as those afforded to victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO LAND LEASES.

Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to repeal, revoke, or buy out the remainder of the lease of the real property under the Prince Kuhio Plaza, in Hilo, Hawaii, and resell that lease at fair market value to a new entity that agrees to properly maintain the plaza.

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO RICHARD "BUFFALO" KEAULANA DAY.

Designates September 2nd of each year as "Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana Day".

Kurt FevellaRepublican

RELATING TO WATER.

Appropriates funds for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to install one hundred monitoring wells to collect data and map the migration of the Red Hill contamination plume.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO THE CENTER FOR CLIMATE RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT.

Appropriates funds for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology within the University of Hawaii at Manoa to establish and operate a Center for Climate Resilient Development. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII ANT LAB.

Appropriates funds to the Department of Agriculture to support the Hawaii Ant Lab in mitigating the effects of little fire ants in the State. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

Exempts from the electronic procurement system the Department of Education's purchase of fresh local agricultural products and local value-added processed, agricultural, or food products not exceeding a certain amount, subject to certain requirements. Requires the Department of Education to establish guidelines for determining a geographic preference for locally sourced products. Exempts the Department of Education from the requirement that certain agricultural products are subject to the Hawaii Public Procurement Code. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat