HB 2171 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.

HB 2171 authorizes the University of Hawaii to engage in business-like activities for educational purposes, directly affecting the university's ability to operate revenue-generating projects tied to student learning. The bill permits UH to run ventures such as student-run businesses, research commercialization, or educational services that generate income while supporting academic goals. Key provisions remove legal barriers preventing the university from conducting these activities under its existing educational mission. This change allows UH to expand practical learning opportunities without requiring separate legislative approvals for each initiative.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Signed Jun 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2171_HD1 → HB2171_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated from the House version to the Senate version, primarily involving administrative metadata updates and a structural reorganization of the statute. The core policy remains the same: the University of Hawaii is authorized to run business-like training labs that are exempt from county zoning rules, provided they have an educational connection.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it still applies to the University of Hawaii and exempts its educational training labs from county zoning regulations.

TECHNICAL

Administrative metadata, including author names, revision numbers, and timestamps, were updated to reflect the Senate version.

The effective date text was changed to include the word 'on' for grammatical consistency.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'educational nexus' was moved from subsection (b) to subsection (f) to reorganize the statute's structure.

REQUIREMENT

The text was slightly edited to clarify that training labs function as 'active businesses' and to explicitly cite the State Constitution as the basis for the statewide concern.

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

Amendments

May 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Iwamoto, Pierick voting no (2) and none excused (0).

lower

May 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.

upper

May 1, 2026

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 107-26).

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 107-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Hashem, Templo, Woodson, Muraoka; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Wednesday 04-29-26 3:10PM in conference room 229.

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 04-28-26 3:15PM in conference room 229.

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Monday, 04-27-26 3:15PM in conference room 229.

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 548) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Elefante ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..

upper

Apr 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-06-26 10:32AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3138) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 17, 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 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-16-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 87).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Iwamoto, Pierick voting no (2) 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 with Representative(s) Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 541-26), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Morikawa, Belatti, Ichiyama, Woodson, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Shimizu; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Iwamoto; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Poepoe.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from HED (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 131-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to WAL.

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, WAL, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

19 primary · 0 co-sponsors