SB 2397 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO NEIGHBORHOOD BOARDS.

Summary

Establishes that when a neighborhood board of the City and County of Honolulu has a vacancy, a majority of the filled seats shall constitute quorum for conducting official board business and discussions before and related to voting. Effective 1/1/2027. (CD1)

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Signed Jun 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2397_SD1 → SB2397_SFA4 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was converted from a Senate Draft 1 version to a Senate Floor Amendment version, adding official amendment headers and a specific instruction to amend the effective date of the legislation to January 1, 2525. The substantive policy text regarding quorum requirements for Honolulu neighborhood boards with vacancies appears to have been removed in this specific amendment file, leaving only the procedural directive to change the effective date.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding neighborhood board quorum rules was removed in this specific amendment version, while the scope of the amendment itself was expanded to include a specific instruction to change the effective date to 2525.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed to January 1, 2525, likely to allow time for vacancy provisions to be implemented or as a placeholder for a future session.

REQUIREMENT

The specific text establishing that a majority of filled seats constitutes a quorum for Honolulu neighborhood boards with vacancies was removed from this version of the amendment.

TECHNICAL

Standard Senate Floor Amendment formatting headers and a directive to amend Section 3 were added to formalize the document as a floor amendment.

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 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

May 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 90-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26.

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 90-26).

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Belatti, Poepoe, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) McKelvey, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-28-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 016.

upper

Apr 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-27-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 016.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 654).

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Apr 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to JHA, referral sheet 18

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 406) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Fevella). Transmitted to House.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Report filed.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Separated Committee Report.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Floor amendment adopted as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Floor Amendment No. 4 offered.

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in JDC were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-27-26 10:30AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to JDC.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from GVO (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2151) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to JDC.

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on GVO has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to GVO, JDC.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors