SB 3279 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

Summary

Establishes the Board of Education Internal Audit Office. Requires the Board of Education to establish, as a standing committee of the Board, a standing committee with a scope that includes audit-related responsibilities. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✗ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 30, 2026 Last action Mar 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB3279_HD1 → SB3279_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a House Draft to a Senate Draft, correcting the legislative body header and fixing a factual error regarding the number of standing committees (changing 'four' to 'three'). The core policy remains the same: establishing an internal audit office and a standing committee to oversee audits, while prohibiting the use of specific funds for certain auditor and evaluation specialist positions in FY 2026-2027.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope and applicability remain unchanged; the differences are primarily formatting corrections and a factual adjustment to the number of existing committees.

TECHNICAL

The header was updated to reflect the Senate Draft (SD1) instead of the House Draft (HD1), correcting the legislative body attribution.

DEFINITION

The text describing the existing board committees was corrected from 'four standing committees' to 'three standing committees' to align with the actual board structure.

FISCAL

Specific dollar amounts for new positions (Internal Audit Director, Secretary IV, and various Auditor and Evaluation Specialists) and related expenses were added to the expenditure prohibition section.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2026.

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

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1508-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett, Kila.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 16

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 131) 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 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-25-26 10:56AM; 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 EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2327) 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 EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Kidani, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-11-26 1:30PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors