HR 38 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

URGING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO SUPPORT THE COMPLETE TRANSFER OF ITS REGULATORY AUTHORITY OVER MOTOR CARRIERS AND OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION, INCLUDING WATER CARRIERS, TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

This House Resolution (HR 38) urges Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to support transferring its regulatory authority over motor carriers (like trucks and buses) and other transportation services from the PUC to the Department of Transportation (DOT). Currently, the PUC regulates about 1,741 motor carrier entities, including safety and financial oversight, while the DOT handles enforcement under a 2024 law. The resolution argues that moving full regulatory authority to the DOT - where it already has enforcement resources - would create more consistent oversight and improve road safety. It does not change current law but requests the PUC's support for future legislative action to complete this transfer.

Issues: ✓ Transportation

Sub-Topics: Traffic Safety

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 6, 2025 Last action Apr 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HR38 → HR38_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reformatted from a traditional legislative document to a digital file structure, and the resolution title was expanded to include 'water carriers' alongside motor carriers. The substantive policy content regarding the transfer of regulatory authority from the Public Utilities Commission to the Department of Transportation remains unchanged.

Scope change

The scope was slightly expanded to include water carriers in addition to motor carriers under the regulatory transfer authority.

SCOPE

Added 'including water carriers' to the resolution title and 'BE IT RESOLVED' clause, expanding the regulatory transfer scope beyond just motor carriers.

TECHNICAL

Converted the document from a traditional text-based legislative format to a structured digital file format with metadata headers.

Removed page numbering, header formatting, and other traditional legislative document elements.

Floor votes · House Apr 3, 2025

How they voted

47–1

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 50

Apr 3, 2025

D Democratic41

40 Yea 1

97% Yea

R Republican9

7 Yea 1 Nay 1

77% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Resolution adopted in final form.

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Adopted with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Souza voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2).

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1830), recommending adoption.

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Chun, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Ilagan, Tam, Pierick.

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on CPC as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Souza voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Hussey, Muraoka, Ward excused (4).

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1670) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to CPC.

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Grandinetti, Evslin, Kitagawa, La Chica, Miyake, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to TRN, CPC, referral sheet 22

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Offered

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors