HB 2476 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE VII, SECTIONS 12 AND 13, OF THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION.

Summary

Proposes constitutional amendments to expressly provide that the Legislature may authorize political subdivisions, such as the counties, to issue housing infrastructure growth bonds for specified public works, public improvements, or other actions necessary for housing and community development, and exclude these bonds from determinations of the funded debt of the political subdivisions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 27, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2476_HD1 → HB2476_HD2 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision updates the legislative title and author information, corrects the bill version number, and significantly reorganizes the definitions section to include new terms like 'community development' and 'housing infrastructure growth bonds.' The changes clarify how counties can issue specific bonds for housing projects without counting them against debt limits, while also refining the definitions of existing financial terms to ensure consistency with the new housing financing framework.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly define 'community development' and establish a new category for 'housing infrastructure growth bonds,' allowing counties to access specific funding tools for housing projects that were previously less clearly defined.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill header to reflect the second House District (HD2) version, changed the author's name from Michael Hamasaki to Michael Ganoot, and adjusted the bill revision number from 00004 to 00004 with updated metadata dates.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'community development' to specify that it covers capital projects advancing community values but explicitly excludes operating expenses.

Added a new definition for 'housing infrastructure growth bonds' to clarify that these are bonds secured solely by real property taxes on the increase in value within a designated district, specifically for housing and community development.

Reordered and renumbered the definitions section, inserting new terms between existing ones and updating the numbering sequence to accommodate the new definitions.

ELIGIBILITY

Modified the list of eligible entities for special purpose revenue bonds to include a clearer distinction for colleges and universities, and retained eligibility for dam and reservoir owners.

REQUIREMENT

Adjusted the language regarding the exclusion of bonds from debt limits to clarify that outstanding principal amounts must still be included in funded debt calculations during the exclusion period.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EIG, JDC/WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 213).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Notice of a bill proposing constitutional amendment in the form of (HD 2) transmitted to Governor pursuant to Article XVII, Section 3.

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Cochran, Iwamoto, Shimizu voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Quinlan, Sayama excused (3). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Hartsfield, Perruso; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Cochran voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 752-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Takayama, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Shimizu; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Cochran; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Hashem, Sayama.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 140-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Cochran, Grandinetti, Kila, Kitagawa, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) La Chica.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to HSG, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

17 primary · 0 co-sponsors