SB 185 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO INDEBTEDNESS TO THE STATE.

Summary

Requires disbursing officers to notify employees within sixty days of making a determination that an indebtedness has occurred to the government resulting from salary or wage overpayment. Amends the amount that a disbursing officer may deduct from an employee's salary, wage, or compensation based on the employee's gross income. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2025 Last action Feb 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB185 → SB185_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Hawaii's debt recovery laws to increase the maximum amounts that can be deducted from employee paychecks for overpayments. The changes raise deduction thresholds and percentages based on employee income levels, and significantly delays the effective date of the law to July 1, 2050.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of allowable deductions by increasing the minimum and maximum deduction amounts for employees at different income levels, making it easier for the state to recover debts from employee wages.

REQUIREMENT

Increased minimum deduction amounts from $50 to $100 for employees earning less than $2,000 per pay period, from $75 to $100 for those earning $2,000-$3,000, and from $100 to $100 (unchanged) for those earning more than $3,000.

Increased maximum deduction percentages from 5% to 5% (unchanged) for low earners, from 15% to 15% (unchanged) for middle earners, and from 25% to 25% (unchanged) for high earners, though the structure was reorganized.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the legislation from immediate approval to July 1, 2050, providing a long delay before the new rules take effect.

TECHNICAL

Reorganized the statutory language and formatting of the debt recovery provisions while maintaining the core deduction structure.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Reported from LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 353) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC/WAM.

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in LBT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Aquino, Lee, C., Ihara, Moriwaki, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-05-25 3:10PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Re-Referred to LBT, JDC/WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to LBT, WAM.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 13, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors