SB 581 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Summary

Establishes the Aerospace and Aeronautics Development Program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

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

SB581 → SB581_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was converted from a House bill (HB) to a Senate bill (SB) and updated with new tracking numbers and dates. The most significant substantive change is the effective date of the new aerospace development program, which was delayed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050. Minor text edits were made to improve clarity in the legislative findings and to ensure the program director's role is clearly defined under the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing an aerospace and aeronautics development program, but the timeline for implementation has been extended significantly.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new aerospace program was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, delaying the start of operations by nearly five years.

TECHNICAL

The bill type was updated from House Bill (HB) to Senate Bill (SB), and associated tracking numbers and revision dates were updated to reflect the new Senate version.

REQUIREMENT

Minor wording adjustments were made to clarify that the program director must have expertise in space-related activities and that the department must include tourism in its name when expending funds.

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 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 122) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Jan 30, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Kim; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga, Awa.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 01-30-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.