HB 1993 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO DEAF INDIVIDUALS.

Summary

Authorizes deaf motor vehicle owners to register their vehicle as being owned by a deaf individual so that a deafness designation appears when a law enforcement officer accesses the motor vehicle's information. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB1993 → HB1993_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to reorganize the statutory sections, clarifying the sequence of requirements for deaf vehicle owners. The definition of deafness was updated to use a specific hearing loss threshold (41 decibels) rather than a speech frequency average, and the certification requirement was moved to a new subsection. The effective date of the law was set to July 1, 3000.

Scope change

The scope of applicability remains focused on deaf motor vehicle owners, but the criteria for determining deafness and the administrative steps for registration were modified.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'deaf' was changed from an average loss in speech frequencies of 82 decibels to a pure tone average hearing loss of 41 decibels or greater.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for certification by an otolaryngologist or audiologist was moved to a new subsection (b) to appear before the definition of deafness.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from 'upon approval' to a specific future date of July 1, 3000.

TECHNICAL

The statutory text was reorganized, splitting the original content into five distinct subsections (a through e) for better readability and logical flow.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 436-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to TRN, JHA, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

7 primary · 1 co-sponsor