SB 2152 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VI, SECTION 3, OF THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION TO INCREASE THE MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR STATE JUSTICES AND JUDGES.

SB 2152 proposes a constitutional amendment to raise Hawaii's mandatory retirement age for state judges and justices from 70 to 75 years. This change would directly affect current and future state court judges, allowing them to serve until age 75 instead of retiring at 70. The bill would amend Article VI, Section 3 of the Hawaii State Constitution to reflect this age increase. The measure is currently under review by the Judiciary Committee, which recently recommended passage with amendments.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action May 1, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2152_SD1 → SB2152_SD2 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill amends the Hawaii Constitution to raise the mandatory retirement age for state court justices and judges from 70 to 75 years. The primary change is the addition of a specific effective date of July 1, 2050, ensuring the amendment takes effect only after compliance with the state constitution's amendment process. The bill also includes minor formatting updates to the bill header and description.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains the same, targeting the mandatory retirement age for all state court justices and judges, but the implementation timeline is now explicitly defined.

TIMELINE

Added a specific effective date of July 1, 2050, to the constitutional amendment provision.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill metadata including the sponsor's name, revision numbers, and internal tracking IDs.

Changed the legislative session designation from S.D. 1 to S.D. 2 to reflect the new version of the bill.

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 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 2:00PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-29-26 2:00PM; CR 325.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 04-28-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Introduced

Notice of the final form of a bill proposing constitutional amendment transmitted to Governor pursuant to Article XVII, Section 3 (Sen. Com. No. 3).

upper

Apr 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Monday 04-27-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-24-26 3:10PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-23-26 2:00PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Wednesday, 04-22-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 633).

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

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, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Alcos; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa.

lower

Mar 25, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1412-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Cochran, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 15

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 22) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Notice of bill proposing constitutional amendment transmitted to Governor pursuant to Article XVII, Section 3 (Sen. Com. No. 1).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 1 (Senator(s) Awa). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Richards.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-19-26 10:30AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2154) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) San Buenaventura.

upper

Jan 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 01-30-26 10:00AM; CR 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

8 primary · 3 co-sponsors