SB 896 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Based solely on the provided context, SB 896 is a procedural education-related bill with no substantive details available in the official abstract or summary. The bill was introduced on January 17, 2025, referred to the Education committee, and carried over to the 2026 session, with a public hearing scheduled for February 11, 2026. No specific provisions, policy changes, or affected groups are described in the given information. Since the abstract states "Short form bill" and no content about the bill's purpose or mechanisms is provided, a substantive summary cannot be generated.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Mar 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB896_SD1_PROPOSED → SB896_SD2 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from the first Senate draft (SD1) to the second (SD2), primarily correcting a citation error in the statute reference and refining the language regarding the hiring of technical staff. These changes ensure the bill correctly targets the appropriate section of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and clarifies that the new hiring authority provides 'flexibility' rather than just 'agility' to help the Department of Education recruit qualified professionals.

Scope change

The bill's scope was corrected to amend Part V instead of Part IV of Chapter 302A, ensuring the new reporting and hiring rules are applied to the correct statutory section.

TECHNICAL

Corrected the statutory reference in Section 2 from 'part IV' to 'part V' of Chapter 302A to ensure the new sections are added to the correct legal location.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the description of the hiring authority from allowing 'greater agility' to allowing 'greater flexibility' when hiring technical staff exempt from civil service rules.

SCOPE

Removed the word 'Proposed' from the bill header and updated the document versioning to reflect the second Senate draft (SD2).

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

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1462-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Mar 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1287-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to LAB.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Olds; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kila.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, LAB, FIN, referral sheet 15

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 19) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 2).

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-18-26 1:02PM; CR 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and recommitted to EDU.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2243) as amended (SD 1), with recommendation of recommittal to EDU.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS and be recommitted. 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 will hold a public decision making on 02-11-26 1:29PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to EDU.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors