Informing the Legislature that on July 3, 2025, the Governor signed the following bill into law: SB447 HD1 CD1 (ACT 291).

This bill creates a pilot program to help the Hawaii Department of Health address staffing shortages by streamlining its hiring process. The pilot, effective until June 30, 2028, delegates certain human resources responsibilities from the Department of Human Resources Development to the Department of Health. Key provisions include allowing the Department of Health to forward applications without initial verification of minimum qualifications (verification occurs after selection), flexibility to consider required qualifications as desired for positions at or below SR-10 salary levels, and the ability to directly hire for civil service positions when more than five vacancies exist for a position classification. The program aims to help the Department of Health more quickly fill its reported 900 vacant positions as of September 2024.