Michael Iosua, state director for NFIB in Hawaii, reports from the State Capitol on the 2026 session

The 2026 Hawaii State Legislative Session commenced January 21 and concluded May 8. Over the course of the session, the House and Senate introduced a total of 3,132 bills. At the first crossover deadline, the midpoint of the legislative session, 478 bills had crossed over from the Senate to the House, while 560 had crossed over from the House to the Senate.

In the end, 268 bills were passed by both chambers and transmitted to Gov. Josh Green for signature. Governor Green now has until July 11 to determine whether he will sign, veto or allow the bills to become law without signature.

The governor must submit his “Intent to Veto” list indicating any bills he is considering a veto by June 30. The NFIB Hawaii legislative team actively engaged throughout the session with committee chairs and members to defer negative legislation impacting small business members, while also supporting measures that benefit the Hawaii business community.

These efforts helped to ensure hundreds of harmful measures have been amended or otherwise prevented from advancing.

Deferred Bills

HB 2506/SB 3235 – Relating to the Minimum Wage
Amends the minimum monthly wage an individual must earn to be exempt from certain wage requirements. Increases the minimum wage to $18.00 per hour beginning in 2027 and prohibits tipped employees from being paid less than the minimum. HB 2506 and SB 3235 were not scheduled for hearing and failed to advance.

SB 2017 – Relating to Healthy Workplaces
Prohibits any employee from being subjected to abusive conduct and requires employers to take reasonable preventative and responsive efforts to ensure a safe work environment. Establishes a penalty, private cause of action, and remedies. SB 2017 was deferred in LBT.

SB 2460 – Relating to Private Sector Collective Bargaining Rights
Expands the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment Relations Act to include independent contractors and all individuals subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. SB 2460 was deferred in LBT.

SB 2998 – Relating to Medical Cannabis
Prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or terms of employment based on the person’s status lawful use of medical cannabis. SB 2998 was not scheduled for hearing by HHS/LBT and failed to advance.

SB 3186 – Relating to Employment Practices
Requires certain employers to provide unpaid and paid leave of absence for victims of workplace violence or threat of workplace violence. SB 3186 was not scheduled for hearing by LBT and failed to advance.

HB 2360 – Relating to Paid Family Leave
Requires DLIR to establish a family and medical leave insurance program and begin collecting payroll contributions. Specifies eligibility requirements and employee protections. HB 2360 passed the House and crossed to the Senate but failed to advance further in the Senate.

HB 2367/SB 2386 – Relating to Employment Earnings
Requires hourly rate or salary ranges to be disclosed on job listings. Removes the exemption for employers having fewer than fifty employees. HB 2367 crossed to the Senate but failed to advance. SB 2386 passed both chambers but died in conference without reaching agreement.

HB 2165 – Relating to the Hawaii Employment Security Law
Amends qualifications for individuals receiving unemployment benefits. Specifies that employers must report separation and wage information within five calendar days. HB 2165 passed both chambers but died in conference without reaching agreement.

SB 3016 – Relating to Privacy
Adds definitions of “identifier” and “specified data element” and amends the definition of “personal information” for data breach notification purposes. SB 3016 crossed to the House and was passed by CPC but failed to be scheduled by JHA.

HB 2140 – Relating to Essential Permitting Positions
Establishes a four-year pilot program to improve permit processing through targeted staffing and performance incentives. HB 2140 passed the House but was superseded by companion bill SB 2671 which advanced.

HB 2306 – Relating to Income Tax
Repeals future adjustments to income tax brackets. Increases income tax rates for the three highest brackets by one percentage point each. HB 2306 crossed to the Senate but was superseded by companion bill SB 3125.

Bills Transmitted/Enrolled to the Governor

Bills that passed both chambers and have been transmitted to Governor Green for signature. He has 45 days to sign, veto or allow a bill to become law without his signature.

HB 1511 – Relating to Consumer Protection
Prohibits entities from distributing unsolicited mail or electronic mail that employs high pressure tactics or is reasonably likely to cause a consumer to believe that the sender is affiliated with another entity. Makes contracts that fail to meet disclosure requirements voidable. Transmitted to governor.

HB 2137 – Relating to Artificial Intelligence
Prohibits certain harmful uses of realistic digital imitations generated by artificial intelligence. Establishes exemptions and provides for civil actions and remedies for individuals injured by unauthorized AI-generated realistic digital imitations. Transmitted to governor.

HB 2583 – Relating to Economic Development
Establishes the Hawaii Micro Lending Credit Enhancement Program within DBEDT to expand micro-lending capacity by providing state-funded loan loss reserves to participating lenders for qualified micro-loans to Hawaii small businesses. Transmitted to governor.

SB 2031 – Relating to Consumer Protection
Makes it an unfair or deceptive act or practice for businesses to advertise, display, or offer the price of live-ticket events or short-term lodging without clearly disclosing the total price. Enrolled to governor.

SB 2268 – Relating to Equity
Requires all places of public accommodation and public entity construction projects planned after July 2027 to provide at least one universal changing accommodation within the building in a public restroom. Enrolled to governor.

SB 2471 – Relating to the Powers of Artificial Persons
Reaffirms that artificial persons created under state law possess only those powers necessary to carry out lawful purposes, and that those powers do not include the power to spend money to influence elections or ballot measures. Enrolled to governor.

SB 2600 – Relating to the General Fund
Makes a deposit into the emergency and budget reserve fund pursuant to article VII, section 6, of the Hawaii State Constitution. Enrolled to governor.

SB 2671 – Relating to Essential Permitting Positions
Authorizes the mayor of each county to implement a pilot program to improve the speed, accountability, and quality of permit processing through targeted staffing, performance incentives, and interdepartmental competition. Enrolled to Governor.

SB 2673 – Relating to the Counties (Permitting Data)
Requires a statewide permitting data standard developed collaboratively by the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, county permitting agencies, and the Chief Data Officer. Requires each county to publish monthly updates of building and civil engineering permit data. Enrolled to governor.

SB 3125 – Relating to Income Tax
Repeals certain future adjustments to income tax brackets. Changes income tax rates. Amends the Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit by adding an aggregate cap amount and setting income thresholds. Adds sunset dates to certain tax credits. Repeals certain technology-related tax credits. Enrolled to governor.

SB 3255 – Relating to Currency
Authorizes cash transactions to be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents, with certain exemptions. Enrolled to governor.

Preparation for 2027 Legislative Session

Looking ahead to the 2027 legislative session, we expect many of the same priority issues to emerge once again. As 2027 represented the second year of the biennium, any bills that failed to advance through the Legislature this year are officially dead and must be re-introduced in subsequent sessions to be considered.