State House leadership reflects on bills passed in 2024 that improve lives of Hawaiʻi residents

The Hawaiʻi House of Representatives leadership describes the 2024 legislative session as productive and says the chamber made good progress on its priorities this year.

The House officially adjourned Friday, marking the end of the 32nd Hawaiʻi Legislature.

“This has been an incredibly productive session,” said House Speaker Scott Saiki of Oʻahu. “Throughout the past four months, the House made significant progress in priority areas of affordable housing, cost of living, public safety and wildfire prevention and recovery. We have passed quality legislation that delivers monumental tax relief to asset limited, income constrained, employed [ALICE] families, who will experience firsthand one of the biggest tax cuts in the state’s history.”

Representatives also delivered funding for other key issues including homelessness, mental health needs in communities and the health care worker shortage throughout the state.

House members on May 1 unanimously passed the final version of the state budget, House Bill 1800, which is now set to become state law upon the signature of Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green.

House Finance Committee Chairman Kyle Yamashita of Maui said the chamber crafted the budget with careful consideration, reflecting its dedication to fiscal prudence, accountability and transparency.

Despite funding uncertainties, the fiscal year 2024-25 budget reflects the shared dedication of House members to ensure adequate resources for mental health services, health care for the disabled and elderly, business and workforce development, childcare and education, affordable housing and public welfare.

The House also passed a series of good government bills relating to transparency in government boards, election procedures and state employment. The measures come on the heels of last year’s efforts to incorporate recommendations from the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct.

“The House has made progress strengthening our ethics laws, ensuring the integrity of our elections and making it easier for citizens to participate and track what our government is doing,” said House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairman David Tarnas of the Big Island.

House Minority Leader Lauren Matsumoto of Oʻahu said House members rallied behind legislation this year that improves the lives of Hawaiʻi residents.

And despite the 2024 legislative session coming to a close, their work is not finished.

“As we all know, our work never ends, and we must continue to fulfill our collective responsibility to serve the people of Hawaiʻi diligently,” said Matsumoto.

2024 legislative highlights

• House Bill 2404: Increases the standard deduction amounts and widens income tax brackets for specific taxable years, beginning with the 2024 tax return.
• HB 2090: Allows residential uses in areas zoned for commercial use to be considered permitted under certain circumstances.
• Senate Bill 3202: Authorizes residentially zoned lots to construct two accessory dwelling units subject to certain restrictions.
• HB 2685: Establishes the Solar Hui program, where condo owners can participate in the Hawaiʻi’s investment of solar energy.
• HB 2801: Allows condo buildings the ability to access commercially property-assessed financing. Will provide the ability for condo buildings to receive longer-term loans for high-cost building repairs such as fire sprinklers, water piping and structural damage.
• SB 2305: Establishes a silver alert program to help locate and safeguard missing kūpuna.
• SB 2347: Establishes the offense of habitual violent crime. Allows for a person to be charged with a Class C felony if they have been convicted of three or more violent misdemeanors within 5 years of the offense being charged.
• HB 1830: Establishes provisional or associate-level licensure requirements for marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors and psychologists. Authorizes insurance reimbursements in certain circumstances.
• HB 1832: Authorizes state departments to conduct a minimum qualification review of applicants for vacant positions.
• HB 1836: Allows pharmacists during an emergency to refill prescriptions for people impacted by the emergency for up to 30 days if the practitioner cannot be contacted.
• HB 1842: Increases the maximum fine for violations of fire protection laws.
• SB 2085: Establishes the Office of the State Fire Marshal within the Hawaiʻi Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
• HB 2802: Proposes a constitutional amendment to repeal the Legislature’s authority to limit marriage. The amendment will be on the 2024 election ballot.
• HB 1597: Clarifies that members of the public may sue a board or alleged board after receiving an adverse Office of Information Practices decision, and that the decision will be reviewed de novo.
• HB 1598: Requires boards to make available for public inspection board packets, if created, at the time the packet is distributed to board members but no later than 2 business days before the board meeting.
• HB 1599: Requires public meeting notices to inform members of the public how to provide remote oral testimony in a manner that allows the testifier, upon request, to be visible to board members and other meeting participants. Recognizes a board’s authority to remove and block individuals who disrupt meetings.
• HB 1600: Requires boards to schedule a meeting for deliberation and decision-making on a report by an investigative group at least 6 business days after the board meeting when the investigative group presented the findings and recommendations of its investigation.
• HB 1879: Provides that certain information to be included in any digital voter information guide shall not be released to any requestor in whole or in part before the public release of the entire guide.
• HB 1881: Updates the maximum administrative fines allowed for violations of chapters relating to standards of conduct and lobbyists.
• HB 1916: Prohibits, upon written request from certain public servants or their representative, any government agency, person or organization from making certain personal information publicly available on the internet.
• HB 2069: Permits Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services to employ certain people within the state Comptroller’s office who are exempt from state laws governing civil service and collective bargaining for certain purposes, as part of the state’s information technology modernization efforts.
• HB 2072: Requires certain solicitations that reference disasters to include a disclosure. Deems violators guilty of a Class C felony.
• HB 2231: Establishes as a goal for the increased representation of women and nonbinary law enforcement officers in the state by 2030. Requires each law enforcement agency to recruit law enforcement officers from diverse backgrounds.
• SB 2240: Requires the Hawaiʻi Office of Elections to file an application with Electronic Registration Information Center by June 30, 2025, for the state to be admitted as a member of the organization. Requires the Office of Elections to share with each county the information and services made available by the information center pursuant to the state’s membership agreement with the organization.