SB 2906 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TOURISM.

Summary

Establishes the Tourism Liaison Officer position within the Office of the Governor. Amends the duties of the Hawaii Tourism Authority to focus on marketing and branding, rather than destination management and regenerative tourism. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2906 → SB2906_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill version updates the bill's metadata to reflect its status as a Senate Draft (SD1) with revised dates and tracking numbers. It also corrects the effective date of the new tourism liaison officer position from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2050, and adjusts the report description to accurately reflect that the Tourism Liaison Officer will handle destination management while the Hawaii Tourism Authority focuses on marketing.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope regarding the creation of the Tourism Liaison Officer and the duties of the Hawaii Tourism Authority remains unchanged; only the effective date of the new position is altered.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new Tourism Liaison Officer position was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2050.

TECHNICAL

The bill's title and metadata were updated to reflect its status as a Senate Draft (SD1) with new revision numbers and dates.

REQUIREMENT

The report description was revised to clarify that the Tourism Liaison Officer is responsible for destination management and regenerative tourism, while the Hawaii Tourism Authority will focus on marketing and branding.

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 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2418) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Kim, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-17-26 1:11PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

3 primary · 0 co-sponsors