SB 1514 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE.

Summary

Establishes a temporary working group to study the feasibility of transitioning the Legislature's regular session from one that meets for 3.5 months from mid-January to early May, to one that meets on a year-round basis. Requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to provide administrative support to the working group. Requires report to Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 4/23/2057. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 22, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB1514 → SB1514_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a House Bill (HB) to a Senate Draft 1 (SD1), shifting the legislative origin and metadata. Substantively, the text was reorganized to remove redundant clauses and clarify the working group's duties, which now include analyzing costs, examining other states' experiences, and producing a report on the pros and cons of a year-round session. The effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to April 23, 2057, likely to align with the 2027 legislative session mentioned in the new expiration clause.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing a temporary working group to study transitioning to a year-round legislature, but the specific tasks assigned to the group were expanded and renumbered for clarity.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to April 23, 2057, and the working group's expiration was updated to forty days before the 2027 session.

REQUIREMENT

The working group's duties were renumbered and expanded to explicitly include analyzing financial impacts, examining other states' models, and producing a findings report on advantages and disadvantages.

The reference to a previous House Concurrent Resolution was updated to reflect its Senate Draft 1 status.

TECHNICAL

The bill type was changed from House Bill to Senate Draft 1, and metadata regarding the sponsor and revision numbers were updated accordingly.

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

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 360) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-07-25 9:25AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 22, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors