SB 1278 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE GENERAL EXCISE TAX.

Summary

Exempts from the state general excise tax any grants received from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund by an eligible business pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Requires the Department of Taxation to notify all taxpayers eligible for refunds of any state general excise tax paid for grants received from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund of their eligibility and requires taxpayers to file refund claims no later than six months following notification. Requires any state general excise taxes paid by eligible businesses for Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants to be refunded to the taxpayer. Effective 7/1/3000. Applies retroactively to 3/11/2021. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Mar 18, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB1278_HD1 → SB1278_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reformatted from House Draft 1 to Senate Draft 1, with minor text cleanup and formatting adjustments. The substantive policy content remains the same: exempting Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants from state general excise tax and requiring refunds for taxes already paid.

Scope change

No substantive scope change; the bill's applicability and policy intent remain identical between versions.

TECHNICAL

Text formatting and spacing were cleaned up throughout the document for consistency.

Header information was updated from House Draft 1 to Senate Draft 1 with different metadata fields.

Section numbering and paragraph formatting were standardized across the document.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 18, 2025

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1343) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Todd, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 18

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 32) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM has scheduled a public hearing on 02-12-25 10:00AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

4 primary · 2 co-sponsors