HB 1780 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO STUDENT TRANSPORTATION.

Summary

Requires the Department of Education to establish a student bus fare rate system that includes free school bus passes for students who meet certain statutory requirements. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/31/2055. (SD1)

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 · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1780_HD1 → HB1780_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from the House version (HD1) to the Senate version (SD1), primarily changing the bill's effective date from July 1, 3000, to July 31, 2055. The substantive policy regarding free transportation for low-income students remains consistent, though the text was updated to consistently specify 'school bus passes' instead of just 'bus passes' for clarity.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding student eligibility and funding remains unchanged; only the effective date was modified.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 31, 2055.

TECHNICAL

The text was updated to consistently refer to 'free school bus passes' rather than 'free bus passes' for clarity.

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 EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3385) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Kidani, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga.

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-18-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 155).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Sayama excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 3, 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; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 491-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

25 primary · 0 co-sponsors