SB 47 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO STATE HOLIDAYS.

Summary

Designates the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice of each year as the Lunar New Year. Establishes the Lunar New Year as a state holiday. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 8, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB47 → SB47_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to change its effective date from immediate approval to July 1, 2050, and updated the legislative history to reflect a Senate amendment. The substantive policy regarding the establishment of the Lunar New Year as a state holiday remains unchanged, though the text was slightly modified to use past tense for the historical anniversary finding.

Scope change

The bill's applicability was delayed by over 25 years, moving the implementation of the new state holiday from the present to July 1, 2050.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 2050', deferring the creation of the Lunar New Year state holiday for decades.

TECHNICAL

The historical finding regarding the 2024 anniversary was changed from present tense ('marks') to past tense ('marked').

The bill title was updated to include 'SD1' and the bill type was changed from 'SB' to 'SMA' to reflect the Senate 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

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Reported from TCA/LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 384) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on TCA recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in TCA were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Lee, C., Inouye, Kanuha, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Elefante.

upper

Feb 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on TCA/LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-10-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 16, 2025

Committee

Referred to TCA/LBT, WAM.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 8, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors