SCR 28 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A STATE OF HAWAII COMMEMORATIVE VIETNAM VETERANS MEDAL.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution asks the U.S. Department of Defense to create a working group that would study and recommend how Hawaii could establish its own commemorative medal for Vietnam War veterans living in the state. The proposed group would include state officials, representatives from local veterans organizations, and other interested parties to develop eligibility rules, application procedures, and design concepts for the medal. The working group must submit its findings and any proposed legislation to the Hawaii Legislature by late 2027, along with cost estimates for creating and distributing the medal. This bill does not create the medal itself but initiates a process to explore whether such a state award is feasible and how it would be implemented.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Mar 10, 2026 Last action May 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

SCR28 → SCR28_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from a standard Senate resolution to a Senate and House concurrent resolution (SD1), indicating it requires approval from both legislative chambers. Several administrative details, including document IDs and dates, were updated to reflect the new version. The most significant substantive change involves the composition of the working group tasked with creating a commemorative Vietnam Veterans Medal: the specific representative from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3830 was replaced with the State Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Hawaii, broadening the organizational representation.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a single chamber resolution to a concurrent resolution requiring action by both the Senate and House of Representatives.

REQUIREMENT

The working group membership was changed from a specific local Post representative to the State Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Hawaii, altering the organizational representation on the committee.

TECHNICAL

The document type was updated from a standard Senate resolution to a concurrent resolution (SD1), requiring concurrence from the House of Representatives.

Administrative metadata, including document IDs, revision numbers, and timestamps, were updated to reflect the new version of the bill.

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

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Resolution adopted in final form.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 844).

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Adopted with Representative(s) Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2271-26), recommending adoption.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Ratcliffe, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa, Perruso, Alcos.

lower

Apr 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Amato excused (1).

lower

Apr 17, 2026

Committee

Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2170-26), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Hashem, Ichiyama, Morikawa, Poepoe, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Woodson.

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to PBS, FIN, referral sheet 27

lower

Apr 7, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 412) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3411) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 04-01-26 3:02PM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to PSM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Offered.

upper

6 primary · 2 co-sponsors