HR 80 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALOHA-BASED CIVIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN HAWAII'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

House Resolution 80 requests the Hawaii Department of Education to establish an Aloha Civics Working Group focused on enhancing civics education in public schools. The working group will assess current civics programs, develop recommendations for integrating the "Aloha Spirit" (Hawaii's cultural principles of kindness, unity, and empathy) into the curriculum, and propose teacher training and evaluation metrics. The group must submit a report to the Legislature and Department of Education by 2026. This resolution directly affects Hawaii's public school system and educators through its recommendations for curriculum changes.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Mar 28, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HR80 → HR80_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly rewritten from a request to create a new Aloha Civics Working Group to a request for a report on existing initiatives. The original version established a new committee with specific members and tasked them with creating civics education programs. The new version shifts focus to reporting on the implementation of the Department of Education's existing Civic Learning and Engagement Task Force recommendations, removing the creation of a new working group entirely.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from establishing a new working group to requesting a status report on existing initiatives

REQUIREMENT

Removed the requirement to establish a new Aloha Civics Working Group with specific members including the Superintendent, University of Hawaii representative, Legislative Reference Bureau representative, and public members

Added requirement for Department of Education to prepare and submit a report on implementation of aloha-based civic education initiatives based on the Civic Learning and Engagement Task Force recommendations

TIMELINE

Maintained the same reporting deadline of twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026

ENFORCEMENT

Changed recipients of certified copies from Governor, Superintendent, University representative, and Legislative Reference Bureau to just the Governor and Superintendent of Education

DEFINITION

Added references to the existing Civic Learning and Engagement Task Force and its March 2024 findings as the basis for the requested report

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Resolution adopted in final form.

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Adopted as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Hussey, Muraoka, Ward excused (4).

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1699) as amended in HD 1, recommending adoption.

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Kila, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett, Kapela, Sayama, Muraoka.

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to EDN, referral sheet 22

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered

lower

10 primary · 0 co-sponsors