Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO RETIRANTS.

Establishes a five-year pilot program allowing retirants to be rehired for exempt service for one-year terms under certain circumstances. Provides that retirants employed under the program are excluded from the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund and will not experience an interruption of pension benefits. Requires an employer of a retirant under the program to contribute to the Employees' Retirement System. Requires the Department of Human Resources Development to submit a report to the Legislature. Sunsets 6/30/2031. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Jackson D. SayamaDemocrat

RELATING TO PAID FAMILY LEAVE.

By 1/1/2029, requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a family and medical leave insurance program and begin collecting payroll contributions to finance payment of benefits. By 1/1/2030, requires the Department to begin receiving claims and paying benefits under the program. Specifies eligibility requirements and employee protections under the program. Excludes paid family and medical leave benefits from income tax. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Jackson D. SayamaDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Requires the counties to automatically approve permits for hurricane retrofitting under certain conditions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Lauren MatsumotoRepublican

RELATING TO ASSISTED COMMUNITY TREATMENT.

Expands an individual's eligibility to receive assisted community treatment if they are a repeat petty offender.

Lauren MatsumotoRepublican

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE ANALYST.

Requires the office of the legislative analyst to produce fiscal notes on all fiscal bills. Prohibits a committee from making a decision on a fiscal bill without a fiscal note. Mandates that fiscal notes be made available to the public. Appropriates funds.

Lauren MatsumotoRepublican

RELATING TO ELECTION REFORM.

Requires the Chief Election Officer role to be an elected position by popular vote beginning with the 2030 general election. Amends the appointment process of the elections commission to subject nominations to confirmation by an appointing body. Makes conforming amendments.

Lauren MatsumotoRepublican

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Prohibits the imposition of cost-sharing requirements for certain diagnostic and supplemental breast examinations.

Lauren MatsumotoRepublican

RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT EARNINGS.

Requires hourly rate or salary ranges to be disclosed on job listings for full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal employees. Removes the exemption for employers having fewer than fifty employees. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Amy A. PerrusoDemocrat

RELATING TO TRUSTS.

Establishes a fifty-year duration limit for new private, noncharitable trusts. Requires large private trusts to file annual reports with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Imposes limitations and reporting requirements on permitted transfers in trusts.

Amy A. PerrusoDemocrat

RELATING TO PURCHASE OF SERVICE CONTRACTS BY THE JUDICIARY.

Beginning 1/1/2027, requires contracts for services awarded to community-based organizations by the Judiciary in support of fulfilling the Judiciary's statutory mandate to individuals, families, and communities in the State to include certain protections against inflation. Appropriates funds to the Judiciary to increase the contract price in existing contracts for services provided by community-based organizations in support of fulfilling the Judiciary's statutory mandate to individuals, families, and communities in the State. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Amy A. PerrusoDemocrat

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IX OF THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO WAGE EQUITY.

Proposes an amendment to Article IX of the Hawaii State Constitution to guarantee that every person has the inalienable right, while engaged in employment in the State, to be paid at a wage rate that is at least equal to the state minimum wage rate, as provided by law, without regard to the type or nature of employment, unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.

Amy A. PerrusoDemocrat

RELATING TO MEDICAID.

Prohibits a financial risk-bearing entity from administering Medicaid services. Requires the Department of Human Services to contract with one or more administrative services organizations to perform non-risk administrative functions for the operation of the State's Medicaid program. Requires the Department to establish a Medicaid Care Coordination Program to contract with community-based programs to provide care coordination services. Requires physicians, other independent practitioners, hospitals, and other institutional providers to be paid or reimbursed directly by the State's medicaid agency. Requires the Department to establish regional health hubs in each county to serve as localized oversight bodies. Requires the Department to convene a Medicaid Stakeholder Advisory Group to support continuous improvement throughout the transition period. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriate funds.

Amy A. PerrusoDemocrat

RELATING TO ASSISTED COMMUNITY TREATMENT.

Authorizes registered nurses and qualified state-licensed health care professionals who are participating in a community paramedicine program approved by the Department of Health who are licensed by the State to administer medication as part of an assisted community treatment order's treatment plan to the subject of the order, under certain circumstances. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Lisa MartenDemocrat

MAKING EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT COST ITEMS.

Makes emergency appropriations for collective bargaining cost items for the members of bargaining unit (14) and their excluded counterparts, including the cost of salary adjustments negotiated between the State and the bargaining unit representative for fiscal biennium 2025-2027. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO FUNDING ADJUSTMENTS FOR STATE PROGRAMS.

Appropriates general funds to various programs due to anticipated operating shortfalls because of the lack of authority to transfer funds between programs. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII EMPLOYER-UNION HEALTH BENEFITS TRUST FUND INVESTMENT OFFICE STAFF SALARIES.

Enables the Board of Trustees of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund to establish appropriate salaries for the investment office staff of the Trust Fund after conducting a market analysis of commensurate salaries in the private sector. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM'S EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR NORMAL COST AND ACCRUED LIABILITY.

Increases employer contributions for normal cost and accrued liability for a specified group of employees to ensure the unfunded accrued liability of the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii does not exceed the maximum funding period.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE EXEMPTION FROM CIVIL SERVICE OF EXECUTIVE PERSONNEL OF THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

Allows the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System, through its Executive Director, to appoint specified executive personnel positions of the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii and exempts these positions from the State's civil service requirements.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE EMERGENCY AND BUDGET RESERVE FUND.

Appropriates moneys out of the Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund for fiscal year 2026-2027 to maintain the levels of programs determined to be essential to education, public health, and public welfare, to provide for counter cyclical economic and employment programs of economic downturn, to restore facilities destroyed or damaged or services disrupted by disaster, and to meet other emergencies declared by the Governor or determined to be urgent by the Legislature. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO GOVERNMENT.

Short form bill.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PORT PILOTAGE.

Clarifies the consulting role and responsibilities of the Department of Transportation in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' development and implementation of pilot licensure standards, requirements, and criteria. Repeals the inclusion of Port Allen as part of the waters of the State that are regulated by statutory pilotage requirements. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO ENERGY ASSISTANCE.

Establishes the Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program within the Department of Human Services to assist qualifying households in paying their energy bills. Requires the Public Utilities Commission Public Benefits Fee Administrator to provide certain information and assistance to recipients of the program. Appropriates funds to implement the program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT.

Allows the Governor to enter the State into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, which will allow a nurse who is licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensure privilege in each party state, effective 1/1/2027. Beginning 1/1/2027, allows the State Board of Nursing to charge different fees for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who hold a multistate license issued by the State. Appropriates general revenues.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT LICENSURE COMPACT.

Authorizes the Governor to enter the PA Licensure Compact to create a comprehensive process that complements the existing licensing authority of the state medical board and provides a streamlined process that allows a PA to become licensed in multiple states, thereby enhancing the portability of a PA license and ensuring the safety of patients.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING.

Includes correctional workers as protected participants in peer support counseling sessions, giving them the same confidentiality protections provided to law enforcement officers and emergency services personnel.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PAROLE ELIGIBILITY.

Expands the types of programs in which a committed person may participate to be eligible for parole. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

Establishes the Administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency as the Deputy Director of Emergency Management within the Department of Defense, under the direction of the Adjutant General. Clarifies the position's reporting structure and duties. Requires the Commission on Salaries, pursuant to section 26-56, HRS, to include the Deputy Director of Emergency Management in its recommendations for executive branch salary levels. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD.

Clarifies that employees of the Hawaii National Guard youth and adult educational programs are excluded from collective bargaining. Renames the "Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Program" to the "Hawaii National Guard Civil-Military Program" and codifies its Hawaiian name, "Nā Kula Alakaʻi". Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

Authorizes the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to convert temporary special project positions created for Federal Emergency Management Agency funded disaster recovery operations into permanent positions exempt from civil service, subject to certain limitations. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL LAND TRANSFER.

Amends Act 307, SLH 2022, to revise tax map key numbers and the conveyance process by which identified properties are to be conveyed to the Department of Education. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING.

Raises the ceiling for the prevailing wages exemption on public works construction projects from $2,000 to $5,000 for governmental contracting agencies. Creates exemption to contractors licensing laws for public works construction projects valued up to $5,000 for governmental contracting agencies.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Authorizes the Department of Education to award a high school diploma to qualified persons who did not receive a high school diploma as a result of compulsory or voluntary induction into the armed services of the United States or whose high school education was interrupted due to wartime practices during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN.

Updates references to the United States Code in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO SCHOOL LICENSURE.

Transfers the licensing authority of private trade, vocational, and technical schools from the Department of Education to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Short form bill relating to education.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PHYSICAL EDUCATION ASSESSMENTS.

Requires the Board of Education to update content and performance standards to reinstate the Presidential Fitness Test.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PRIVATE SUPPORT OF EDUCATION.

Clarifies that free tuition at private educational institutions are to be considered conditional gifts that support educational advancements rather than contractual obligations. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PHYSICIAN CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION.

Beginning 1/1/2027, requires nutrition and metabolic education as part of the physician continuing medical education requirements. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO INCOME TAX.

Repeals future adjustments to income tax brackets. For taxable years beginning after 12/31/2026, increases the income tax rates for the three highest income tax brackets by one percentage point each. Increases a taxpayer's applicable percentage of employment-related expenses that is used to calculate the household and dependent care services tax credit. Establishes certain disallowance periods following a final decision that a claim for the credit was due to fraud and that the claim was disallowed. Extends the sunset for amendments made by Act 163, SLH 2023, to the Household and Dependent Care Services Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Food/Excise Tax Credit. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEWS.

Allows the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to assume historic preservation review of the effect of any proposed project for lands under its jurisdiction except for projects affecting properties listed or nominated for inclusion in the Hawaii register of historic places or the national register of historic places.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920, AS AMENDED.

Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to increase the State's liability limit for moneys borrowed by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, or loans made to lessees that are guaranteed by the Department, from $100,000,000 to $500,000,000. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.

Short form bill relating to health care.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE.

Requires hospitals with emergency departments that are licensed in Hawaii to submit syndromic surveillance data to the Department of Health. Authorizes the Department of Health, as needed, to establish by administrative rules a syndromic surveillance system under state jurisdiction that is independent of federal systems.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.

Establishes the Hawaii Preventive Services Advisory Committee and authorizes the Department of Health to issue preventive service recommendations. Requires health insurance coverage without cost-sharing for Department of Health-recommended clinical preventive services. Provides immunity for healthcare providers' and facilities' provision of recommended clinical preventive services.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO LEAD MATERIALS IN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.

Amends prohibitions on the use of lead materials in drinking water distribution to align with the Safe Drinking Water Act and related Code of Federal Regulations.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S AUTHORITY TO REGULATE FOOD, DRUGS, AND COSMETICS.

Removes duplicative food-related statutory material and aligns all food-related provisions under chapter 328, HRS. Ensures adequate statutory authority for permits, fees, inspections, and enforcement.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO INDEPENDENT AUDITS OF DEPOSIT BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTORS.

Limits the independent audit requirement to deposit beverage distributors who distribute 2,000,000 or more deposit beverage containers a year. Identifies frequency of obtaining and submitting independent audits based on quantities of deposit beverage containers imported, manufactured, or distributed. Creates minimum requirements for independent audits.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE STATE FIRE COUNCIL.

Replaces the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations with the Department of Law Enforcement as the department responsible for budgeting administrative staffing for the State Fire Council. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat