HB 1777 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Summary

Establishes the Tenant Protection Working Group within the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to address certain tenant protection issues in the State. Requires the Tenant Protection Working Group to report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Last action Mar 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1777_HD2 → HB1777_SD1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was fundamentally rewritten to shift from requiring developers to provide immediate replacement housing and right-of-first-offer protections to creating a new 'Tenant Protection Working Group' within the Housing Finance Corporation. This group will study tenant issues and report recommendations to the legislature rather than enforcing immediate developer obligations. The effective date was also moved from the distant future of 3000 to 2050.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from directly regulating developer actions regarding displacement to establishing an advisory committee to study and report on tenant protection issues statewide.

REQUIREMENT

Removed all direct requirements for developers to grant tenants a right of first offer or provide replacement housing payments.

Added the creation of a 'Tenant Protection Working Group' consisting of legislative chairs, agency directors, and advocates to address tenant issues.

Added a requirement for the working group to report findings and recommendations to the legislature before each regular session.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from July 1, 3000 to July 1, 2050.

FISCAL

Added an appropriation for the new working group, replacing the previous funding structure for developer compliance.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed enforcement mechanisms that allowed the Corporation to delay reviews, halt relocation, or ban non-compliant developers.

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

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from HOU/HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3203) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HOU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Chang, Hashimoto, Elefante, Rhoads; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU/HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-26 1:06PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to HOU/HHS, WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 287).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Cochran, Garcia voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Pierick voting no (2) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Cochran.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA with Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 398-26), recommending referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Tam.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 115-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Grandinetti, La Chica, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Cochran, Kila, Muraoka; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kitagawa.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to HSG, CPC, JHA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

13 primary · 0 co-sponsors