SB 2245 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS FOR STATE EMPLOYEES.

Summary

Prohibits new state employees from taking official action on matters they worked on before state employment. Prohibits former permanent employees of the Office of the Governor and Office of the Lieutenant Governor from representing persons or businesses for a period of 12 months after termination from state employment. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Apr 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2245 → SB2245_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the revolving door restrictions for state employees, clarifying that the cooling-off period prevents the appearance of favoring former private employers. It expands the list of high-level officials subject to post-employment lobbying bans and adds a specific exemption for matters that were a primary responsibility of an employee's official job description at the time of hire. The effective date for the new rules is set to July 1, 3000, likely as a placeholder for future legislative action.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of post-employment lobbying restrictions to include more specific job-related exemptions and clarifies the application of the law to employees in the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor.

REQUIREMENT

Added a specific exemption allowing employees to take official action on matters expressly identified in their official job description at the time of hire, provided the matter was disclosed as a primary responsibility.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded the list of high-level state officials subject to post-employment lobbying restrictions to include more specific roles and clarified the application to permanent employees of the governor and lieutenant governor offices.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the Act from July 1, 2027, to July 1, 3000, indicating a placeholder or future implementation date.

TECHNICAL

Updated formatting and text to remove hyphens and adjust line breaks for consistency in the legislative document.

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 9, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 486).

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Sayama.

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1315-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Mar 17, 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., Garrett, Kapela, Kong; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Reyes Oda.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to LAB, JHA, referral sheet 16

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 43).

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-24-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to JDC.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Committee

Reported from LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2121) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to JDC.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in LBT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Elefante, Lamosao, Ihara, Moriwaki; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Jan 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 01-30-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to LBT, JDC.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors