SR 99 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO STUDENTS ON HOW TO PREREGISTER TO VOTE BEFORE REACHING VOTING AGE.

This Senate Resolution urges the Hawaii Department of Education to inform students aged sixteen and older about how to preregister to vote before they turn eighteen. The bill directs schools to provide specific guidance on voter eligibility, registration procedures, and opportunities to volunteer at voter service centers, while also making paper application forms and accessibility resources available. Additionally, it designates the last two weeks of September each year as a dedicated period for high schools to hold voter registration and preregistration events with election officials present. This measure aims to increase civic engagement among youth by making voting information more accessible within the school system.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 16, 2026 Last action May 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR99 → SR99_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to change its title from a Senate Resolution (SR) to a Senate Memorial Address (SMA) and updated the template used for formatting. The text was edited to replace 'prior to' with 'before' regarding voting age and fixed a formatting error in the first 'Whereas' clause. The most significant substantive change is in the final resolution, which expanded the recipients of the certified copies from just the Superintendent of Education to include the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Chief Election Officer.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the recipients of the resolution was expanded to include additional state officials.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill type from Senate Resolution (SR) to Senate Memorial Address (SMA) and updated the associated template numbers and dates.

Corrected the phrasing from 'prior to reaching voting age' to 'before reaching voting age' and fixed a garbled text artifact in the first 'Whereas' clause.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded the list of officials receiving certified copies of the resolution to include the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Chief Election Officer, in addition to the Superintendent of Education.

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 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from EDU/JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3559) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 7, 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, Kidani, Hashimoto; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga, DeCorte.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Apr 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU/JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 04-07-26 10:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU/JDC.

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors