HB 596 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

HB 596 clarifies which types of events qualify as disasters or emergencies under the state's emergency management system. It defines specific criteria for what constitutes a disaster or emergency, directly affecting emergency management agencies and their response protocols. The bill takes effect on July 1, 2050, and aims to provide clearer guidelines for declaring and managing emergencies.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Apr 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB596_HD1 → HB596_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill has been amended from its House version to the Senate version, primarily updating the effective date of the legislation from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050. This change corrects a likely clerical error in the House draft, ensuring the law will take effect in a realistic timeframe rather than a distant future. Additionally, the bill number and associated metadata were updated to reflect the Senate designation (SD1).

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains focused on emergency management, but the timeline for when these rules become active has been significantly adjusted from an impossible future date to a specific year in the mid-21st century.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050, correcting a probable drafting error.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and metadata were updated to reflect the Senate version (SD1) instead of the House version (HD1).

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

Apr 10, 2025

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 656) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Moriwaki, San Buenaventura. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) McKelvey). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-04-25 10:46AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to WAM.

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Committee

Reported from PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1123) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in PSM were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Elefante, Wakai, Fukunaga, Rhoads, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-12-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to PSM, WAM.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 111).

upper

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ward.

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 545) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Jan 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Ichiyama, Lamosao, Morikawa, Poepoe, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Woodson.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to PBS, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

9 primary · 0 co-sponsors