HB 625 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

HB 625 establishes a state-funded incentive program to attract and retain nationally certified school psychologists in public schools. It directly affects qualified school psychologists by providing financial incentives through appropriated state funds. The bill creates a mechanism where eligible psychologists receive annual payments upon meeting certification and employment requirements. The program is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 3000, and recently passed the Education Committee with 10 supportive votes. This is a funding-based policy change focused on addressing staffing needs in school mental health services.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB625 → HB625_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to update its version number and metadata, standardize the title formatting, and adjust the effective date to July 1, 3000. The most significant substantive change is the redaction of specific dollar amounts for the school psychologist incentive program, replacing them with blank spaces to be filled in later.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the incentive program remains the same, but the specific funding amounts are now undefined placeholders.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 3000.

FISCAL

Specific dollar amounts for the school psychologist bonus and certification fee reimbursement were removed and replaced with blank spaces.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated to include 'HD1' and metadata dates were changed to reflect the new version.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 175) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

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, Kila, Olds, Sayama, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kapela.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to EDN, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

18 primary · 0 co-sponsors