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HB 400 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY.

HB 400 appropriates funding for the state Judiciary for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium, covering court operations, judicial salaries, and related services. It directly affects the judicial branch, including courts, judges, and court staff, by providing financial resources for their operations during this period. The bill does not create new laws or policies but ensures continued funding for existing judicial functions. It passed unanimously in committee with no opposing votes.
Issues: ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesAppropriates funding for judiciary operations, a core budget function, ensuring continued fiscal support for essential court services as part of state budget management.95% confidence ✓ Criminal JusticeSupports Criminal JusticeHB 400 funds judiciary operations (courts, judges, staff) for 2025-2027, directly supporting court functions within the criminal justice system by ensuring financial resources for existing operations.90% confidence
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Jun 2025
Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Signed Jun 26, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB400_SD1 → HB400_SD2 · 6 edits
MODERATE
The bill was reformatted from a traditional legislative document to a structured data template format, with significant substantive changes to funding amounts, effective dates, and program details. The most critical change is the effective date, which was altered from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, making the appropriations future-dated and non-immediately operative.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include new capital improvement projects (chiller replacement, statewide facility upgrades, and a new courthouse) and modified funding allocations across judicial circuits.
TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, meaning the appropriations will not take effect until nearly 25 years in the future.

FISCAL

Capital improvement funding for the Kauai Judiciary Complex chiller replacement was increased from $900,000 to $1,290,000.

A new $4,000,000 appropriation was added for a new South Kohala District Courthouse in Hawaii.

Operating budget amounts for several judicial circuits were adjusted, including increases to the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Judicial Circuits.

REQUIREMENT

New provisions were added regarding the transfer of savings to the driver education fund and procedures for handling federal or private funds.

TECHNICAL

Original formatting elements, including page headers and document metadata, were removed in favor of a structured template format.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
47
Key actions
17
Committee
17
Amendments
3
Apr 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick excused (2).
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Introduced
48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 04-30-25
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 157).
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 157) as amended in (CD 1).
lower
Apr 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Moriwaki; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.
upper
Apr 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Yamashita, Poepoe, Takenouchi, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
lower
Apr 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Monday, 04-21-25 at 5:10PM in Conference Room 309.
lower
Apr 17, 2025
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Monday 04-21-25 2:05PM in conference room 325.
lower
Apr 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-17-25 3:46PM in conference room 325.
lower
Apr 10, 2025
Amended
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
lower
Apr 8, 2025
Introduced
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 628) in amended form (SD 2).
lower
Apr 8, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
upper
Mar 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-31-25 10:01AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
upper
Mar 21, 2025
Committee
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1253) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
upper
Mar 19, 2025
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, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Chang.
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-25 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
Referred to JDC, WAM.
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Introduced
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 382).
upper
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Alcos, Cochran, Holt, Sayama, Ward excused (5). Transmitted to Senate.
lower
Mar 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Hussey, Ward.
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 286), recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Hashem, Todd.
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Committee
Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1
lower
Jan 17, 2025
Introduced
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Introduced
Pending introduction.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Nadine Nakamura
Nadine Nakamura
DDemocratic
HI
15