How major bills fared at the Capitol

Here is the status of major bills near the halfway point of the 60-day legislative session. The bills that are alive have passed at least one chamber of the Legislature, or are about to pass.

The bills that are failing were not approved by the House or Senate by Thursday’s procedural deadline. Failing bills can be revived later, however, and measures can be rewritten to change their effect before the session adjourns in May.

GOVERNMENT

Passing

Election recounts

HB 428 HD1

Would require an automatic recount of votes when the difference between two candidates is 100 votes or less or 0.5 percent.

ConAm on election recounts

HB 709 HD1

Would propose an amendment to the state Constitution allowing the Legislature to enact voter recount laws.

Office vacancies

HB 626

Would require a special election be held to fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate and state Legislature that occur when someone resigns or dies during their term. Currently, the governor chooses a replacement from a list of nominees submitted by the respective political party. Vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives are already filled via special election.

Capitol security

HB 1488 HD1

Would require state Department of Accounting and General Services to increase security at the state Capitol, including vehicular barriers, security screening equipment and private screening staff.

Lobbyists

HB 1381 HD1

Would expand the period that former state legislators and executive branch employees are subject to lobbying restrictions from one to two years and ban behind-the-scenes lobbying activities.

Tax returns

HB 712 HD1

Would require candidates for president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor and mayor to disclose their federal income tax returns in order to be listed on a general election ballot. Would prohibit electors from voting for candidates for president and vice president who have not disclosed their taxes.

Moonlighting

HB 361 HD1

Would prohibit the governor and mayors from maintaining outside employment or earning outside compensation while in office beginning two months after their election or appointment to office.

Failing

Public records exemption

Would allow government officials to cite a deliberative process privilege in withholding the release of public records. The measure was introduced in response to a Hawaii Supreme Court decision that found this exemption did not exist in state law, contrary to rulings by Hawaii’s Office of Information Practices.

Public records complaints

Would require the Office of Information Practices to resolve public complaints regarding access to public records or open meetings within six months.

Sunshine Law

Would make the Legislature subject to certain provisions of Hawaii’s Sunshine Law and deem correspondence received by the Legislature and its committees subject to disclosure under Hawaii’s public records law.

Voting age

Would propose an amendment to the Hawaii Constitution lowering the voting age to 16.

Staggered work hours

Would allow public employees the option of working staggered work hours to help reduce traffic and commute times.

TAXES

Passing

Education tax

SB 1474 SD2

Would increase the state general excise tax from 4 percent to 4.5 percent to provide funding for the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii.

Rental car tax

SB 162 SD2

Would increase the state tax surcharge on rental cars from $3 per day to $5 per day for Hawaii residents. Visitors without a Hawaii driver’s license already pay $5 per day.

County hotel tax

SB 198 SD2

Would authorize each of the counties to impose their own hotel room tax surcharges as soon as the counties establish registration and compliance systems that require transient vacation rentals to obey county land use ordinances. Currently the counties cannot levy hotel room taxes.

Online tax

SB 495 SD2

Would impose the state excise tax on transactions by online retailers who do $100,000 worth of business in Hawaii, or do 200 or more transactions with people in Hawaii per year.

REIT deduction

HB 475 HD1 & SB 301 SD1

Would eliminate the state tax deductions for dividends paid out by real estate investment trusts, effectively requiring the trusts to begin paying Hawaii corporate income taxes.

Resort fee tax

SB 714 SD2

Would impose the state hotel room tax on resort fees that are calculated separately from the advertised hotel room room rate. Also increases the hotel room tax on timeshare units.

Cigarette tax

SB 887 SD2

Would increases the tax on cigarettes by 5 cents per cigarette beginning July 1, 2020, which would boost the total state tax on each pack of cigarettes to $4.20.

Conveyance tax

SB 1362 SD1

Would increase the conveyance tax rate for sales of residential investment properties worth

$2 million or more.

Carbon tax

SB 1463 SD2

Would create a new carbon emissions tax on coal, oil and other fossil fuels. The new tax would replace the state gasoline tax as well as the barrel tax on oil shipped into the state. The original bill was designed to collect nearly $115 million a year to raise the same amount of money for the state as existing taxes on fossil fuels.

Estate tax

SB 1361 SD1

Would increase estate taxes for estates in Hawaii valued at more than $10 million for tax purposes.

Reduced penalties

SB 1516 SD1

Would reduce the penalties imposed on taxpayers for nonpayments and underpayments of state taxes that are due to “reasonable cause.”

Failing

Gas tax increase

Would increase the state gasoline tax, weight tax and vehicle registration fees to collect an extra $40 million a year for road maintenance and other highway projects. Proposed by Gov. David Ige’s administration.

Gas tax uses

Would require that the money from the state gas tax be spent in the county in which it is collected.

Landlord credit

Would offer landlords an income tax credit for renting to families that earn less than 80 percent of median income.

EDUCATION

Passing

Teacher housing

SB 12 SD1 & SB 114 SD1

Would provide housing subsidy vouchers to teachers employed by the Department of Education who teach in hard-to-fill schools. The housing vouchers could be used to cover rent or mortgage payments.

UH Promise Program

HB 813 HD1 & SB 316 SD2

Would expand the University of Hawaii Promise Program, which provides scholarships to cover unmet direct costs for students at UH community colleges, to its four-year institutions.

Public school jurisdiction

SB 171 SD2

Would establish a task force to create a process for transferring jurisdiction over Hawaii’s public schools from the state to the counties.

Youth suicide

SB 383 SD2

Would require the Board of Education to establish a mandatory youth suicide awareness and prevention program to identify at-risk students and prevention procedures.

Student health

HB 250 HD2

Would increase funding for the Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn program, which provides health services to K-12 students in public schools.

After-school programs

SB 1515 SD1

Would establish the Three to Six Out-of-School program to provide care and continued learning for K-12 students in public schools after the end of the school day.

Workforce readiness

SB 371 SD2

Would establish a workforce readiness program within the public school system to help students receive industry-based skills and certifications required for employment after high-school graduation.

Staggered school times

HB 318 HD1

Would require the Department of Education to organize a task force to study the implications of staggering school times.

UH Board of Regents

SB 919 SD2

Would reduce University of Hawaii Board of Regents members from 15 to 9 and shorten terms from 5 to 4 years.

Failing

Board of Education

Would return the Board of Education to an elected board rather than having members be appointed by the governor.

Smoking at school

Would fine minors $100 for smoking on public school property or at public school functions.

Standardized testing

Would limit standardized tests at public schools to those required by state and federal law and provide an option to opt out of others.

UH graduate students collective bargaining

Would allow graduate student assistants employed by the University of Hawaii to collectively bargain.

Board of Education community forums

Would require the Board of Education to hold at least six community forums annually, in which public comments would be allowed on nonagenda items.

CONSUMER PROTECTION/LABOR

Passing

Minimum wage

HB 1191 HD1

& SB 789 SD2

HB 1191 would increase the current state minimum wage of $10.10 per hour in steps to $15 in 2024. House bill would set lower minimum wages for employees who receive employer-paid health benefits. Senate bill would increase the minimum to $15 per hour by 2023, and offer an income tax credit to small businesses to offset the impact.

County wages

HB 96 HD1

Would authorize each county to establish a minimum wage that is higher than the state minimum wage.

Family leave

HB 1343 HD1

Would extend the Hawaii family leave law to include care for grandchildren. The law requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide up to four weeks of paid or unpaid leave each year.

Housing discrimination

SB 122 SD2

Would prohibit discrimination in advertisements for rentals based on participation in a housing assistance program such as Section 8.

Evictions

HB 931 HD2

Would prohibit landlords from recovering possession of a dwelling unit from tenants if the habitability of the premises is significantly impaired.

Uber/Lyft

HB 1093 HD2

Would create state rules for transportation network companies operating in Hawaii, and would no longer allow the counties to regulate the companies. Would impose statewide insurance requirements.

Sexual harassment

HB 488 HD2

Would prohibit written nondisclosure agreements involving sexual assault and sexual harassment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee for disclosing or discussing sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Check cashing

HB 332 HD1

Would require check cashing companies to register with the state and offer voluntary payment plans to indebted customers to allow for payments of no more than 5 percent of the customer’s gross monthly pay.

Vacation rentals

HB 419 HD2

Would provide an unspecified amount of money to the counties to fund enforcement of laws and ordinances dealing with vacation rentals. The original bill proposed that the counties be provided with $1 million for that work.

Rental taxes

SB1292 SD2

Would authorize transient vacation rental companies such as Airbnb to act as tax collection agents for the state, and would require the companies to report the address and other information about each transient rental unit to state and county officials upon request.

Failing

Sports betting

Would legalize sports betting in Hawaii.

Pay for porn

Would require internet content providers to include digital blocking capability rendering pornographic material inaccessible, but would allow consumers to access the material for a fee.

Edible cannabis

Would require the Department of Health to develop standards for the manufacture and sale of edible medical cannabis products.

Pickup passengers

Would prohibit passengers from riding in the beds of pickup trucks.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Passing

Red light cameras

SB 663 SD2

Would authorize the counties to begin using traffic cameras to identify and fine motorists who run red lights.

Marijuana crimes

HB 1383 HD2

Would decriminalize possession of three grams of marijuana or less, and set up a schedule of fines for people caught with small qualities of cannabis.

Jail purchase

HB 1177 HD1

Would provide money for the state to buy the Federal Detention Center near the Honolulu airport to replace Oahu Community Correctional Center. The federal facility cost $170 million to build.

Manslaughter

HB 951 HD1

Would allow people to be charged with manslaughter when they knowingly distribute a dangerous drug in any amount and another person dies as a result of ingesting that drug.

Bail reform

SB 192 SD1

Would authorize defendants in custody to petition a court for unsecured bail.

Lost firearms

HB 720 HD 1 & SB 621 SD 1

Would require gun owners to report lost, stolen, or destroyed firearms within 24 hours.

‘Red flag’ law

SB 1466 SD2

Would allow law enforcement or family members to obtain a court order preventing people from accessing firearms or ammunition if they pose a danger of causing injury to themselves or others.

Asset forfeiture

HB 748 HD2

Would prohibit civil asset forfeiture except in cases where the property owner has been convicted of a felony.

Sex offenders

HB 508 HD1

Would require adults arrested for felony sexual offenses to provide DNA samples, and would establish a system for expungement from the DNA database when people are acquitted.

Prison oversight

HB 1552 HD2

Would establish a correctional system oversight commission with access to all information in the correctional system, and with authority to investigate complaints and oversee the transition from a punitive model to a rehabilitative approach.

Sanctuary state

SB 557 SD1

Would prohibit state and county law enforcement agencies from complying with federal immigration detainers or honoring requests for nonpublic information absent a warrant signed by a judge.

Felony citations

SB 1422

Would allow police to issue citations instead of making arrests for nonviolent class C felonies, misdemeanors, petty misdemeanors and violations.

Failing

Legalize marijuana

Would repeal all criminal penalties in connection with marijuana except for the prohibition on furnishing marijuana to a minor.

Child support

Would create a new felony crime called persistent nonsupport in the first degree. Would apply to people with a legal obligation to provide support who fail to support a child or spouse for five years or longer, or are $30,000 or more in arrears.

Speedy trial

Would create a legal right of victims of sexual assault and witnesses of sexual offenses to a speedy trial in criminal cases involving adult defendants.

HEALTH/SOCIAL SERVICES

Passing

E-cigarettes

SB 1009 SD2

Would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Sugary drinks

SB 549 SD1

Would require restaurants that sell children’s meals that include a beverage to make the default beverage a healthy drink, such as water, low-fat milk, or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice.

Genderless IDs

HB 1165 HD2 & SB429

The House Bill would allow residents the option of having an “X” for their gender on a driver’s license and state identification card. The Senate version would allow residents to use the category “nonbinary.”

Retirement savings

SB 1374 SD2

Would create a retirement savings program for private-sector employees who don’t otherwise have access to a savings plan provided by their employer.

Tax relief

HB 1190 HD1

Would eliminate the Hawaii income tax for the state’s poorest residents. Currently Hawaii taxes residents with annual taxable earnings of $4,800 or less 1.4 percent of their incomes.

Food tax credit

SB 579 SD1

Would increase the refundable food excise tax credit to an unspecified amount. That credit, which is designed to offset the impact of the state excise tax on food, is now worth up to $110 for the poorest Hawaii families.

Mosquitoes

HB 1546 HD1

Would require the University of Hawaii to develop a plan for the statewide eradication of mosquitoes and appropriates funds.

Dental insurance

SB 467 SD1

Would restore adult dental health benefits to Medicaid beneficiaries.

Mental health

SB 1124 SD2

Would make it easier to obtain a court order to force mental health treatment on the severely mentally ill.

Failing

Pot to treat opioids

Would allow marijuana to be prescribed for the treatment of opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders.

Pot to treat anxiety

Would add anxiety disorders to the growing list of medical conditions for which marijuana can be prescribed.

Cigarette ban

Would ban the sale of cigarettes in Hawaii by progressively raising the minimum age to purchase them to 100 years old in 2024.

Anti-vax

Would allow parents and guardians to cite conscientious beliefs as the basis for gaining an exemption for their child from vaccination and immunization requirements. Currently state law allows objections based on medical and religious reasons. The measure would also allow licensed naturopathic physicians to certify an exemption from immunization requirements.

Fluoridated water

Would require public water to be fluoridated, which improves dental health.

Feral birds

Would prohibit excessive feeding of feral birds, including leaving food out in public to feed more than 25 birds in a 20-foot radius.

Pesticides

Would prohibit the use of glyphosate, an herbicide, within 100 feet of a school during school hours.

ENVIRONMENT

Passing

Sea level rise

HB 549 HD1

Would prohibit development in areas projected to be significantly affected by sea level rise.

Coastal properties

SB 1126 SD2

Would require all sales or transfers of vulnerable coastal properties to include a sea level rise hazard exposure statement.

Water permits

HB 1326 HD2

Would extend the deadline for converting public water permits into long-term leases by seven years.

Ala Wai Canal

SB 77 SD3

Would provide local matching funds for an Army Corps of Engineers flood control plan for the Ala Wai Canal to satisfy a federal requirement that Hawaii fund 35 percent of the $345 million project costs.

Polystyrene ban

SB 11 SD1

Would prohibit restaurants statewide from serving prepared food using polystyrene foam containers.

Single-use straw ban

HB 762 HD2

Would prohibit full-service restaurants from providing single-use straws to customers unless requested by the consumer.

Rapid ohia death

HB 1548 HD1

Would provide an unspecified amount of funding to combat rapid ohia death. The original bill proposed to spend more than $2 million.

Solid waste disposal

SB 1242 & HB 1016

Would adopt a new goal of reducing the state’s total solid waste prior to disposal by 70 percent by 2030.

Electric vehicle charging system rebate

HB 1585 HD1

Would require the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to provide rebates to those who install new electric vehicle charging systems or upgrade existing ones.

Failing

Coal-burning

Would prohibit the approval of any agreement that allows the use of coal for electricity production.

Managed retreat

Would require the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to decide which areas should implement armoring or managed retreat in response to sea-level rise.

Natural gas

Would require gas utility companies to establish renewable energy portfolio standards for gas and provide means to achieve them.

Plastic bottles

Would prohibit state agencies from buying beverages in plastic bottles or rigid plastic containers, except under certain circumstances.

Marine debris

Would make counties responsible for removing and disposing of marine debris.

Community food forests

Would use land for community food forests to grow and harvest food for residents.

Conservation tax

Would increase the portion of the state conveyance tax deposited into the land conservation fund to be used to buy lands with exceptional, unique, threatened or endangered resources. Introduced by Gov. David Ige’s administration.

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

Passing

Local housing

SB 1 SD2

Would create the ALOHA Homes Program to develop low-cost homes for sale to Hawaii residents on state-owned and county-owned lands along the Honolulu rail line.

Low-income renter’s credit

SB 885 SD1

Would boost the renter’s credit that low-income residents can claim on their taxes, increasing the amount of the credit per qualified exemption from $50 to $150. The credit has not been increased since 1981.

Land for ohana zones

HB 257 HD2

Would allow the ohana zones program, which was created to provide temporary housing and services to the homeless, to utilize private land. Extends the pilot program from one year to 2022.

Ohana zones expansion

SB 1131 SD2

Would expand the ohana zones program, a pilot program to provide temporary housing and services to the homeless, from at least three to at least six sites on Oahu, while also expanding sites on the neighbor islands if the program has the capacity. The measure would also require the Ige administration to evaluate low-cost modular housing options for permanent housing and off-the-grid infrastructure that could provide drinking water, electricity and sewage disposal.

Mobile clinics for homeless

SB 526 SD2

Would provide funding for two mobile health clinics to serve homeless people, one of which would be operated on Hawaii island.

Failing

State coordinator on homelessness

Would require the state coordinator on homelessness to report directly to the lieutenant governor. The current coordinator was appointed by and reports to the governor.

Right to housing

Would have residents vote on whether to amend the Hawaii Constitution to require the state to ensure each resident has access to housing.

Returning home

Would establish a program to help homeless people reunite with family members in their home states.

Beach hotline numbers

Would require signs be posted in parks and beaches from Kalaeloa to Makaha with phone numbers for agencies that assist homeless people.

Renting to homeless people

Would provide various financial incentives to private property owners who rent to homeless people.

Nimitz transitional housing

Would establish a transitional homeless shelter comprising of micro units below the Nimitiz Viaduct or other areas on Oahu that might be suitable.

Nonprofit housing

Would establish a three-year pilot program that would allow nonprofit organizations to provide housing to homeless people, including temporary encampments on property owned by the organization.

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Compiled by Sophie Cocke and Kevin Dayton

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