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SR 149 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES AND RECOMMEND AMENDMENTS TO INCORPORATE GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMINOLOGY.

SR 149 is a resolution requesting Hawaii's LGBTQ+ Commission and Commission on the Status of Women to review state laws (Hawaii Revised Statutes) and recommend replacing gendered language (like "he" or "she") with gender-neutral terms. The commissions must draft proposed legislation for current statutes, create a process for future bills to use gender-neutral language, and submit findings by January 2026. This follows Hawaii's prior actions, including marriage equality (2013) and non-binary gender markers on IDs (2019). The resolution does not change laws directly but sets a process for updating state statutes to better reflect diverse gender identities.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 1, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR149 → SR149_SD1 · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to shift responsibility from the LGBTQ+ Commission and Commission on the Status of Women to the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) for conducting the review of gender-neutral language in Hawaii Revised Statutes. The LRB is now tasked with drafting legislation and consulting with various commissions and experts, while the original commissions are no longer directly responsible for the review. The timeline was extended from 20 days to 40 days prior to the 2026 session, with an additional final report due 40 days before the 2027 session. Recipients of the resolution were updated to include the LRB Director and additional stakeholders.
Scope change
The bill's scope shifted from a request to two specific commissions to a request directed at the Legislative Reference Bureau, which now leads the review and drafting process while consulting with the original commissions and other stakeholders.
REQUIREMENT

Primary responsibility for reviewing statutes and drafting legislation was transferred from the LGBTQ+ Commission and Commission on the Status of Women to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

The LRB is now required to consult with the LGBTQ+ Commission, Commission on the Status of Women, civil rights experts, and law-related organizations as part of the review process.

TIMELINE

The deadline for submitting the interim report was extended from 20 days to 40 days prior to the 2026 Regular Session, and a final report was added due 40 days before the 2027 session.

ENFORCEMENT

Certified copies of the resolution are now transmitted to additional recipients including the LRB Director, Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, and University of Hawaii at Manoa Dean.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report and Resolution Adopted as amended (SD 1). Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 3 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte, Fevella).
upper
Mar 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1420) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-25 10:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Mar 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to JDC.
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Introduced
Offered.
upper
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.