HB 1294 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE HOUSING.

Summary

Establishes an Agricultural Workforce Housing Working Group within the Department of Agriculture to address the shortage and challenges of agricultural workforce housing in the State. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Governor

Introduced Jan 22, 2025 Last action Apr 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1294_HD2 → HB1294_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was updated from the House version (HD2) to the Senate version (SD1), primarily reflecting procedural changes in authorship and versioning. The most significant substantive change is the effective date of the Act, which was moved from the distant future of July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050, indicating a long-term legislative timeline for implementing agricultural workforce housing reforms.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on assessing laws to allow agricultural workforce housing construction and reporting on the shortage of such housing, but the timeline for implementation has been adjusted to 2050.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050, setting a specific future deadline for the law's implementation.

TECHNICAL

Authorship and version metadata were updated to reflect the Senate version, changing the author from Chris Kobayashi to Ainoa Naniole and updating revision numbers and dates.

Minor text updates were made, including changing 'Farmers Union' to 'Farmers Union United' and correcting 'Appropriation' to 'Appropriations' in the report title.

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

Amendments

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Friday, 04-25-25 9:00AM in conference room 224.

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 753) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. 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

Mar 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-02-25 10:01AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Mar 20, 2025

Committee

Reported from AEN/HOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1187) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HOU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Chang, Hashimoto, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Aquino, Fevella.

upper

Mar 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Richards, DeCoite, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN/HOU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-10-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to AEN/HOU, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 351).

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Garcia, Muraoka voting no (2) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Kitagawa, Ward.

lower

Feb 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Matayoshi, Poepoe, Ward excused (4).

lower

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 645), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Kahaloa, Kusch, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ward.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 214) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to AGR.

lower

Feb 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Grandinetti, Kila, Kitagawa, Muraoka; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, La Chica, Pierick.

lower

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to HSG, AGR, FIN, referral sheet 4

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 22, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors