HB 2488 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE DISABILITY AND COMMUNICATION ACCESS BOARD.

Summary

Requires the Disability and Communication Access Board to study the health care communication needs of patients who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind. Requires a report to the Legislature. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

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 28, 2026 Last action Mar 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2488_HD2 → HB2488_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was revised from the House version (HD2) to the Senate version (SD1), updating administrative metadata such as author names and revision numbers. Substantively, the bill retains its requirement for healthcare providers to offer auxiliary aids to deaf or hard-of-hearing patients but restructures the list of required guidance materials, adding specific instructions on how to file grievances. The effective date and reporting timeline remain unchanged.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on healthcare communication access for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind patients, with no change to the entities required to comply.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill metadata including author names, revision numbers, and document identifiers to reflect the Senate version.

Adjusted the citation suffix in the effective date clause to match the new Senate designation.

REQUIREMENT

Reorganized the list of required guidance materials for healthcare providers by splitting the original item into two parts and adding a new requirement for grievance filing instructions.

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 HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3327) 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 HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fevella.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:40PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS, WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 428).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Kong, Pierick excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 5 Excused: Representative(s) Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Yamashita, Alcos.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSH/HLT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 381-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 5, 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, Hartsfield, Marten, Olds, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Amato.

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to HSH/HLT, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

11 primary · 0 co-sponsors