Labor & Employment

Establishes the Hawaii State Fellows Program within the Department of Human Resources Development to match talented applicants with full-time, paid fellowship roles in various state agencies for a period of 10 to 11 months. Establishes minimum qualifications and procedures for eligible applicants to apply to the program. Gives preference to eligible program applicants who have a pre-existing connection to the State or a demonstrated commitment to long-term leadership in the State. Requires the Department of Human Resources Development to coordinate with state agencies to implement and promote the program. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates moneys.

Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, in consultation with the Insurance Commissioner, to establish and implement a five-year voluntary Nontraditional Workforce Portable Health Care Benefit Plan Pilot Program that offers high deductible health plans or catastrophic health plans to nontraditional workers who are ineligible for health benefits provided by the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund or prepaid health care plans under the Prepaid Health Care Act. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Amends the State Internship and Workforce Development Program for the public sector by expanding the program to the Legislative and Judicial branches; limiting the internships to full-time placements of ten to eleven months; establishing eligibility criteria, application requirements, and selection preferences; and requiring the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to collaborate with coordinating agencies to promote the program and recruit eligible applicants. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2077. (SD1)

Establishes and appropriates funds into and out of the Hawaii Employer-Led Sector Partnerships Special Fund. Requires the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to coordinate its sector partnership activities with the Workforce Development Council. Effective 7/1/3050. (SD1)

By 1/1/2027, requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a family and medical leave insurance program and begin collecting payroll contributions to finance payment of benefits. By 1/1/2028, requires the Department to start receiving claims and paying benefits under the program. Specifies eligibility requirements and employee protections under the program.

Exempts the sale of groceries and nonprescription drugs from the general excise tax. Removes the state income tax on unemployment compensation benefits. Doubles the standard deduction for individuals earning less than $100,000 and joint returns earning less than $200,000. Repeals the incremental increases on standard income tax deduction amounts. Increases the minimum income threshold and exemption amount for the low-income household renters' income tax credit. Removes the tax liability for the first $100,000 of individual income earned.

Establishes a statewide framework for the implementation of the federal Workforce Pell Grant Program to provide financial aid for certain short-term workforce education and training programs. Establishes a Workforce Pell Grant Program Approval Committee within the Workforce Development Council. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Amends the private sector On-the-Job Training Work Experience Program to allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to contract with employers and trade organizations or apprenticeship program sponsors without regard to chapters 103D and 103F, HRS; establish that an intern may become an apprentice in a registered apprenticeship program under certain conditions; require employers to pay $20 per hour for a maximum of 40 hours per week for all interns; provide, subject to certain limits, for the reimbursement of 100% of an intern's wages for employers, trade organizations, and sponsors having fewer than 50 employees, and 50% of an intern's wages for employers, trade organizations, and sponsors having 50 or more employees; and requires sponsors to pay, supervise, and train interns. Amends the State Internship and Workforce Development Program to require experience gained by interns to be applied towards the experience needed to meet minimum qualifications for civil service positions; require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and Department of Human Resources Development to develop guidelines for participation in the program; transfer certain program responsibilities from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to the Department of Human Resources Development. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2077. (SD2)

SB 3082 authorizes eligible employees in the state to take family leave for qualifying military exigencies under existing state law. It directly affects employees whose spouses, children, or parents are on active military duty, allowing them to take time off for specific military-related situations like deployment-related events. The bill expands the state's family leave framework to include these military-specific circumstances without creating new leave categories. The legislation is currently in its early stages, having been introduced on January 26, 2026.

Exempts affordable housing projects that are financed by a nonprofit community development financial institution certified by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation as utilizing less than a certain amount from the Affordable Homeownership Revolving Fund from prevailing wage provisions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)