SB 2798 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Summary

Makes permanent the Agricultural Enforcement Pilot Program established pursuant to Act 235, SLH 2025. Renames the program as the Agricultural Enforcement Program and expands the program statewide. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✗ Immigration

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Apr 21, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2798_HD1 → SB2798_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill converts the Agricultural Enforcement Pilot Program into a permanent statewide initiative, removing previous geographic restrictions to Oahu and Hawaii Island. The change expands the program's reach to cover all of the State of Hawaii and updates the effective date to July 1, 2050, ensuring the new permanent status applies immediately upon enactment.

Scope change

The program's scope expanded from specific islands (Oahu and Hawaii) to the entire State of Hawaii.

SCOPE

The program is now implemented statewide rather than being limited to the islands of Oahu and Hawaii.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050, to align with the bill's permanent status.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and description were updated to reflect the transition from a pilot program to a permanent one.

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 16, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 700).

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). 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: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1541-26), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama.

lower

Mar 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1247-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Chun, Kusch, Kahaloa, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to AGR, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 16

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 79) in amended form (SD 1).

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

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee on WAM has rescheduled its decision making to 03-02-26 10:02AM; CR 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-02-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2367) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in PSM were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Fukunaga, Hashimoto, Inouye; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C., DeCorte.

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee on PSM has added the measure to decision making scheduled on 02-11-26 3:00PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee on PSM has deleted the measure from decision making scheduled on 02-09-26 3:00PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 02-04-26 3:02PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to PSM, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

6 primary · 1 co-sponsor