SB 527 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Summary

Appropriates funds for the establishment of five full-time equivalent (5.0 FTE) positions within the Civil Rights Compliance Branch of the Department of Education. 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 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB527 → SB527_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill establishes five new full-time positions within the Department of Education's Civil Rights Compliance Branch to handle gender equity and civil rights issues. The most significant change is the effective date, which was moved from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, likely a clerical error intended to be 2026. Additionally, the specific dollar amounts for funding these positions and equipment were removed from the text, leaving them blank for future legislative action.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing equity specialists, but the funding mechanism changed from a fixed appropriation to a blank allocation requiring further specification.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the bill was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, which appears to be a significant clerical error.

FISCAL

Specific dollar amounts previously allocated for employee salaries and equipment were deleted, leaving blank spaces in the appropriation sections.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and wording adjustments were made to clarify job duties and correct section headers.

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 11, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Committee

Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 219) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 3, 2025

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) Kidani, Kim, Hashimoto, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) DeCorte; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

7 primary · 5 co-sponsors