HCR 181 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

AFFIRMING THAT THE LEGISLATIVE INTENT OF SECTION 302A-1116, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES, IS TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CREATE SUBSTANTIVELY TEMPORARY POSITIONS ONLY.

This bill requests the Hawaii Department of Education to form a shared decision-making committee to develop a plan for establishing a K-12 Hawaiian language immersion school in Kapolei. The proposed committee would include 11 members representing educators, administrators, community organizations, parents, and higher education leaders to guide the planning process. The action plan must outline steps for facility selection, teacher recruitment, curriculum development, and a phased implementation schedule starting with kindergarten through second grade by the 2027-2028 school year. The bill also directs the Department to allocate initial faculty and administrative positions to support the new school and requires progress reports to the Legislature by 2027 and 2028.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Mar 16, 2026 Last action Apr 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HCR181_SD1 → HCR181_SD1_PROPOSED · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted to include a new title and a 'PROPOSED' label, while the substantive legislative language regarding the Department of Education's temporary positions remained unchanged. No new policy requirements, funding changes, or enforcement mechanisms were introduced in this version.

TECHNICAL

Added a descriptive title and a 'PROPOSED' status label to the document header.

Reformatted the text layout by removing metadata lines and adjusting paragraph spacing.

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 24, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 757) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3905) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.

upper

Apr 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 04-20-26 1:01PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference (Proposed Draft).

upper

Apr 17, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to EDU.

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU/HWN.

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 586).

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Adopted with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1936-26), recommending adoption.

lower

Apr 7, 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, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa.

lower

Apr 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Apr 2, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1769-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Olds; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett, Kila, Muraoka, Souza.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered

lower

17 primary · 0 co-sponsors