HB 1525 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ELECTIONS.

Summary

Appropriates funds to: (1) the counties for more voter service centers for in-person voting; (2) the Office of Elections to print and mail the digital voter information guide to all registered voters; and (3) the Office of Elections to support a public outreach and engagement campaign to encourage greater voter participation. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB1525 → HB1525_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to extend its effective date from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000, likely a clerical error intended to remove the expiration date. Additionally, the funding description was updated to explicitly include awareness and training for accessible voting options, and the bill title was revised to reflect House District 1.

Scope change

The bill's applicability was altered by changing the effective date to a distant future year, effectively making the funding permanent rather than temporary.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

FISCAL

The description of appropriated funds was updated to specify that the outreach campaign includes awareness and training to promote accessible voting options.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated to include 'HD1' and several metadata fields were modified, including dates and page numbers.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to JDC/EIG, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 14).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 102-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Cochran, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Hashem.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

20 primary · 0 co-sponsors