A flurry of bills introduced last week would lower the blood alcohol content to be found guilty of driving while intoxicated, ask voters whether they want to allow adults to use and possess recreational marijuana, ban cellphones in public schools, impose term limits for state legislators and also bar them from nepotism, among other possible changes.
They were among 3,150 bills that legislators have introduced this session.
Other bills introduced before last week’s deadline would give restaurants the option to allow dogs inside despite current Health Code prohibitions (Senate Bill 1027), further crack down on illegal fireworks, charge tourists a $50 fee for “an environmental stewardship license” and aim to prevent a repeat of the past two years when school bus routes were abruptly canceled just before the start of fall classes.
SB 1618 also would create a Journalistic Ethics Commission within the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs that could impose penalties, establish a “Journalistic Code of
Ethics” and require news media to provide ethics training to all of their
journalists.
A new Journalistic Ethics Review Board attached to DCCA would review complaints of alleged ethics violations. SB 1618 also would require the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to analyze UH Manoa’s journalism program and report its findings to the state Legislature.
Bills to address impaired driving also have been introduced this session that would lower the blood alcohol content to be found guilty of driving while
impaired.
SB 1285 would lower the blood alcohol content for driving a vehicle while impaired from Hawaii’s current level of .08 gram but no lower than .05 gram, while House Bill 1084 specifically would lower the blood alcohol content to .05 gram.
Utah remains the only state to have a blood alcohol content threshold of
.05 gram to be guilty of drunken driving.
However, SB 1285 also would prohibit a drunken driver from pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
In the wake of the deadly New Year’s fireworks blast, SB 1324, among bills introduced earlier, would increase the penalties for anyone using illegal fireworks that cause “substantial bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or death as a result of the fireworks offenses.”
It also would make it a crime to send or receive pyrotechnics by air delivery, distribute them to someone without a permit and refuse to provide identification.
House Bill 1305 also would require the Department Education to develop a fireworks education and marketing program for public schools.
Questions over the popular idea of how to charge tourists an additional fee — and how much — to help Hawaii address climate change, including the risk of future wildfires, would be addressed by SB 673.
It would charge visitors $50 for “an environmental stewardship license” to visit a state park, forest, hiking trail and any other “state natural area.”
The new fee would begin July 1, 2027, just before the Fourth of July.
HB 1139 also would charge tourists to buy an “environmental stewardship license” but does not specify the cost.
Other bills are intended to address the years-long problem of last-minute cancellations of school bus routes because private bus contractors lack enough drivers with specialized commercial driver’s licenses needed to transport children to school.
In each of his first two years in office, Gov. Josh Green has had to issue emergency proclamations to waive the more stringent requirements for both drivers and for the sizes and type of vehicles to allow other private transportation companies to restore routes.
HB 861 would classify student transportation as “critical infrastructure and a critical service for Hawaii’s public education system.”
It would require all school bus contracts to mandate performance and accountability requirements to prevent service disruptions.
HB 862 and HB 1160 also would allow “motorcoaches, small buses, and vans for school bus services if certain conditions are met.”
The annual push by some legislators to legalize adult, recreational use of cannabis got its furthest in the House in 2024 but still died.
HB 519 would take the question directly to voters by asking them whether to approve a constitutional amendment that would make it legal for adults over 21 to posses and use recreational cannabis.
There also are several bills designed to curtail cellphone use in public schools.
The state Board of Education would have to create rules against cellphone use in all Department of Education schools under SB 684 and HB 485.
Along with a ban on cellphones, HB 289, HB 1195 and HB 1224 would allow exemptions for emergencies or with teacher authorization. All three bills also would bar students from using social media through their school’s internet and create a social media education campaign.
SB 1544 and HB 1303 would require every school to create their own cellphone policies, including possible exceptions.
Several bills are designed to limit how long senators and representatives can remain in the Legislature. They are Hawaii’s only elected officials who do not have term limits.
HB 495 and SB 1594 propose a constitutional amendment to be decided by voters whether legislators should be limited to serving no more than 16 years.
HB 298 and HB 570 also propose a constitutional amendment that would limit legislators from serving no more than 12 years, starting after the 2026 general
election.
HB 488 proposes a constitutional amendment that would bar elected officials from serving if they are charged or convicted of a crime but makes no specific proposal for the maximum term that legislators could serve.
SB 1545 also would repeal exemptions that allow nepotism in the Legislature.
In 2022 the Legislature passed a law that took effect in 2023 that prohibits nepotism across state government — particularly for the 60,000 employees in the executive branch — but notably exempted the state Legislature and Judiciary.
SB 1225 would change the formula for approving a constitutional amendment by requiring a simple majority of all votes without the current practice of counting blank and spoiled votes as “no” votes.
County Charter amendments currently can be approved just with a simple majority of “yes” votes without having to account for blank or spoiled ballots.
Other bills submitted by last week’s introduction deadline would fund programs popular with residents and Hawaii’s tourism industry to fly and relocate homeless people back to the mainland (HB 1218).
Hawaii also would further seek to retain and attract teachers by paying off loans for teachers who commit to teaching in public schools (SB 968). The state already has paid off student loans for nearly 900 health care workers who stay for at least two years, and Green has proposed a third round of funding this session.
Hawaii and Utah remain the only states to ban any form of gambling, but HB 1463 would require the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to conduct a feasibility study about creating a state lottery.
During the deadly Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, fleeing Lahaina residents got trapped in gridlock because roads were closed.
HB 823 would require the Department of Transportation, working with the city, to develop a plan for emergency evacuation routes along the Waianae Coast, where the threat of future wildfires remains in a heavily populated area with only one main road in and out.
Their spot on the waiting list for any Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries who die without receiving DHHL land or homes would be allowed to be filled by an eligible successor
who is at least 25% Native Hawaiian, under HB 855.
Green, legislators and residents continue to blame mainland and foreign property owners for helping to drive up the cost of Hawaii real estate.
The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution prevents Hawaii from placing ownership restrictions on Americans who live in other states, according to legal
experts.
But HB 884 would prohibit foreign parties from owning agricultural land across the state. It would also would create the Office of Agricultural Intelligence within the Department of Agriculture to investigate.
The state Attorney General’s Office would be responsible for enforcement.
Hawaii’s already stringent gun regulations would include a ban on assault rifles, assault shotguns and .50-caliber rifles under HB 893 and SB 600.
