HR 42 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RECOGNIZING OPEN WATER LIFEGUARDS AS FIRST RESPONDERS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII.

This House Resolution formally recognizes open water lifeguards in Hawaii as first responders, acknowledging their specialized training and critical role in emergency response. The bill highlights that these professionals are among the first to arrive at beach emergencies, providing medical aid, rescue services, and scene security similar to police and firefighters. While the resolution does not create new legal requirements, it urges state and county agencies to grant lifeguards the same rights, resources, and professional respect afforded to other first responders. The measure also encourages collaboration among public safety agencies to improve emergency response capabilities across Hawaii's ocean and shoreline environments.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 12, 2026 Last action Apr 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HR42 → HR42_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from a draft version to House Draft 1, incorporating specific formatting corrections and clarifying the geographic scope of the legislation. The most significant substantive change is the standardization of the county name from 'Hawaiʻi County' to 'county of Hawaiʻi' for consistency with other counties mentioned in the text. Additionally, the bill's title was capitalized for formal presentation, and metadata regarding the author and document versioning was updated.

Scope change

The bill's scope was slightly refined by changing the reference to 'Hawaiʻi County' to 'county of Hawaiʻi' to align with the naming convention used for Kauaʻi and Maui counties, ensuring uniform application of the recognition across all listed jurisdictions.

DEFINITION

Changed the reference from 'Hawaiʻi County' to 'county of Hawaiʻi' to maintain consistent naming conventions with other counties in the bill.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill title to use all capital letters for formal legislative formatting.

Corrected the author's name from 'Emma Berman' to 'Michael Hamasaki' and updated associated document metadata.

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

Apr 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on PBS 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 LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1699-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to PBS.

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to LAB, PBS, referral sheet 18

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

To be offered.

lower

17 primary · 0 co-sponsors