HCR 53 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII BOARD OF REGENTS TO CONDUCT A SYSTEMWIDE ASSOCIATE DEGREE COMPLETION AUDIT.

This bill asks the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to conduct a systemwide audit to find students who have earned enough credits for an associate degree but haven't been awarded one. The audit will specifically look at students who transferred from community colleges to four-year campuses or left the system after accumulating sufficient credits. The university is also asked to study how to create pathways for awarding these earned degrees and report findings to the legislature by March 2027.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Mar 12, 2026 Last action May 8, 2026

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What changed between versions

HCR53 → HCR53_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill was updated to reflect its progression from the House to the Senate (SD1), changing the title to include 'SD1' and updating metadata like the author's name and revision dates. The substantive text was cleaned up by capitalizing the resolution's request and correcting minor formatting errors, such as changing 'Hawaii' to 'Hawaii System' for consistency. No new policy requirements, funding amounts, or eligibility criteria were introduced in this version.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains unchanged; it continues to request a systemwide audit of associate degree completion by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

TECHNICAL

Updated the document title and metadata to indicate the bill has been amended in the Senate (SD1) and revised the author name and timestamps.

Corrected capitalization in the main request text to read 'REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII BOARD OF REGENTS...' and fixed a typo changing 'Hawaii' to 'Hawaii System' in the findings section.

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

May 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

Resolution adopted in final form.

lower

May 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

Adopted as amended in SD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Hussey, Kong, Quinlan excused (3).

lower

May 8, 2026

Introduced

House agrees to Senate amendment(s).

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 748) 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. 3904) 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.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to EDU.

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Apr 1, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 450).

upper

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Adopted with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Nakamura, Perruso excused (2).

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from HED (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1580-26), recommending adoption.

lower

Mar 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Amato, Kapela, Kila, La Chica, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Evslin, Woodson, Muraoka.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to HED, referral sheet 18

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

To be offered.

lower

11 primary · 0 co-sponsors