HB 2159 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.

HB 2159 funds health care workforce development programs at the University of Hawaii. It appropriates state funds to establish new positions within the university focused on training and supporting health care workers. This bill directly affects the University of Hawaii's ability to expand its health care workforce initiatives. The key provision is the allocation of dedicated funding to create these new roles, aiming to strengthen Hawaii's health care workforce pipeline.

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 26, 2026 Last action Mar 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2159_HD2 → HB2159_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from a House Draft version to a Senate Draft version, primarily changing the bill metadata, formatting, and the effective date. The most significant policy change is the shift in the effective date from July 1, 3000, to July 31, 2055, which alters when the funding and new faculty positions become active. Minor text reformatting was also applied to the introductory findings section.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains the same, as it still targets the University of Hawaii for health workforce development; however, the timeline for implementation has been extended by over 250 years.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 31, 2055, significantly delaying when the new positions and funds take effect.

TECHNICAL

Metadata fields such as author names, template versions, and internal tracking numbers were updated to reflect the Senate Draft status.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to the text in the first section, including line breaks and spacing, without altering the substantive meaning of the findings.

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/HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3390) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU/HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:10PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU/HHS, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 86).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 25, 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 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from HLT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 552-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HLT recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Takayama, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Amato, Hartsfield, Marten, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Olds.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from HED (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 136-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to HLT.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Kila, La Chica, Olds, Woodson, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to HED, HLT, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

25 primary · 0 co-sponsors