SB 1315 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO ABOLITION OF JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT ENTITIES IN HIGHWAY-RELATED CIVIL ACTIONS.

Summary

Abolishes joint and several liability for government entities in claims and cases relating to the maintenance and design of highways. Makes government entities liable only for the percentage share of the damages actually attributable. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Feb 14, 2025

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What changed between versions

SB1315 → SB1315_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Hawaii's highway liability laws to clarify that government entities are only responsible for their specific share of damages in highway-related accidents, rather than being held jointly liable with other parties. The changes remove exceptions for certain tort types and adjust the effective date of the law to July 1, 2050. The bill also updates formatting and removes outdated metadata from the original draft.

Scope change

The scope remains focused on highway-related civil actions involving government entities, but the exceptions for when joint liability applies have been modified to exclude certain tort categories that were previously exempt.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed exceptions for intentional torts, environmental pollution, toxic/asbestos torts, aircraft accidents, and strict/products liability from the list of cases where joint liability is retained.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from 'upon approval' to a fixed date of July 1, 2050.

TECHNICAL

Cleaned up formatting, removed metadata headers, and standardized section numbering and text formatting.

REQUIREMENT

Adjusted the language in Section 663-10.5 to clarify that joint and several liability is retained specifically for highway maintenance/design claims under section 663-10.9.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from TCA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 620) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on TCA recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in TCA were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Lee, C., Inouye, Elefante, Kanuha, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on TCA has scheduled a public hearing on 02-11-25 3:01PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to TCA, JDC.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors