HB 2028 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO LABOR DAY.

HB 2028 establishes a nonrefundable tax credit for employers who provide a paid Labor Day holiday to construction workers. This policy directly affects construction employers (who may claim the credit) and construction workers (who receive a paid holiday). The key provision requires employers to grant a paid holiday on Labor Day to qualify for the tax credit, which is effective July 1, 3000. The bill passed committee in February 2026 with amendments but does not change existing Labor Day holiday requirements for other workers.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 13, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB2028 → HB2028_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill changed from establishing a refundable tax credit to a nonrefundable one, meaning any unused credit cannot be refunded to the employer but can only be carried forward to future tax years. The legislation also added a $2 million annual cap on total credits and updated the effective date to July 1, 3000, while keeping the application date for tax years after December 31, 2025. Several minor formatting corrections were made to the list of covered construction job titles.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from a refundable credit (money returned to the employer) to a nonrefundable credit (money used only to offset taxes owed), and introduced a $2 million annual funding limit.

FISCAL

Changed the tax credit from refundable to nonrefundable, preventing refunds to employers if the credit exceeds their tax liability.

Added a $2,000,000 annual cap on the total amount of tax credits available under the program.

REQUIREMENT

Added a provision allowing excess nonrefundable credits to be carried forward to offset tax liability in subsequent years.

TIMELINE

Updated the effective date of the Act to July 1, 3000.

DEFINITION

Corrected pluralization and formatting errors in the list of covered construction worker job titles (e.g., 'Mason' to 'Masons', 'Sheet-metal workers' to 'Sheet-metal workers').

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 5, 2026

Committee

Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 17-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to ECD.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to LAB, ECD, FIN, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

12 primary · 0 co-sponsors