HB 2534 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ROBOTICS.

HB 2534 would appropriate state funds to the Department of Education to establish robotics as an official interscholastic sport for public high schools. If passed, it would allow schools to form competitive robotics teams under state guidelines, with the Department developing program rules by July 1, 3000. The bill directly affects public high school students and athletic programs by creating a new competitive category. It is currently pending in the Education Committee after passing committee recommendations with amendments.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 20, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB2534 → HB2534_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to streamline its structure by combining the funding authorization and administrative requirements into a single section. The effective date was drastically changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000, effectively delaying the implementation of the robotics sport program for over 700 years. The description was also updated to reflect this new timeline.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's immediate effect has been nullified by changing the effective date to the year 3000, meaning no funding or program establishment will occur in the near future.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

REQUIREMENT

The requirements for the Department of Education to minimize documentation were moved from a separate section into the funding section.

FISCAL

The funding section was consolidated to include the appropriation details and the new administrative requirement in one paragraph.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes were made, including adjusting line breaks and updating the bill title to indicate House Draft 1.

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

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 216).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Sayama excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 3, 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, Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Lee, M.; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 419-26), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Holt, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 74-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to ECD.

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, ECD, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

26 primary · 0 co-sponsors