SB 1166 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO INSURANCE.

Summary

Allows the Hawaii Property Insurance Association to file and litigate subrogation claims against responsible parties for claims paid by the insurer for losses resulting from climate disasters and extreme weather attributable to climate change. Establishes a new, specific cause of action that allows insurers and injured parties to file claims against a responsible party for damages resulting from climate disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate change, and other long-term changes in the climate system. Requires insurance rates to account for any proceeds from subrogation or civil claims against a responsible party. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD2)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB1166_SD1 → SB1166_SD2 · 7 edits

MODERATE

SB 1166 was substantially rewritten from SD1 to SD2 to establish a new cause of action allowing insurance companies and private citizens to sue fossil fuel companies for damages caused by climate disasters. The bill adds specific definitions for climate disasters, creates liability rules for responsible parties, and requires insurance rates to account for recovery from these lawsuits.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly targets fossil fuel companies as 'responsible parties' and defines climate disasters in detail, expanding the scope from general climate change concerns to specific legal mechanisms for holding these entities accountable.

SCOPE

Added new Section 1 findings that explicitly name fossil fuel companies as responsible parties who engaged in decades of deception about climate change impacts.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'climate disaster', 'extreme event attribution science', 'extreme weather attributable to climate change', 'fossil fuel product', and 'impact attribution science'.

ELIGIBILITY

Created new Section 2 establishing a civil liability cause of action with a $10,000 minimum damage threshold and three-year statute of limitations for filing claims.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that insurance rates must account for proceeds recovered from subrogation or civil claims against responsible parties.

ENFORCEMENT

Added provisions prohibiting various legal defenses for defendants, including claims of ignorance of law, constitutional violations, or choice-of-law clauses.

TIMELINE

Set the effective date of the Act to July 1, 2050, which is significantly later than typical legislative effective dates.

FISCAL

Modified Section 4 to require the Hawaii Property Insurance Association to establish rates that account for proceeds from civil actions against responsible parties.

SB1166 → SB1166_SD1 · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a traditional legislative document to a structured data template, while the substantive content of SB 1166 remained largely intact. The core policy changes include creating a new cause of action allowing insurers and individuals to sue fossil fuel companies for climate-related damages, establishing a $10,000 minimum damage threshold for filing claims, and requiring insurance rates to account for recovery from these lawsuits.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include both private insurers and individual plaintiffs (not just insurers) who can bring civil actions against responsible parties for climate-related harms, with specific jurisdictional rules for where lawsuits can be filed.

ELIGIBILITY

Created a new cause of action allowing any harm other than state employees to sue responsible parties for climate-related damages, in addition to existing insurer subrogation rights.

REQUIREMENT

Established a $10,000 minimum damage threshold for filing claims, with provisions allowing multiple plaintiffs to aggregate their claims to meet this threshold.

DEFINITION

Defined 'climate disaster' to include events meeting federal disaster criteria, catastrophic incidents with mass casualties, billion-dollar weather events, state emergencies, or events exceeding $100 million in aggregate insurance losses.

ENFORCEMENT

Added 12 specific defenses that defendants cannot raise, including ignorance of law, constitutional claims, and choice-of-law clauses, to prevent fossil fuel companies from avoiding liability.

TIMELINE

Set the effective date for the Act to July 1, 2050, nearly 25 years after the bill's introduction.

TECHNICAL

Converted the document format from traditional legislative text to a structured data template with metadata fields, while preserving the original bill content.

FISCAL

Required insurance rates to account for proceeds recovered from subrogation or civil claims against responsible parties, with provisions for rate adjustments if recovery is not achieved.

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

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to CPC, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 269) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 22; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 3 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte, Fevella). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 26, 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, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 26, 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

Feb 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM/JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-26-25 10:05AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 666) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM/JDC.

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Richards; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) McKelvey.

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-07-25 9:50AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to CPN, WAM/JDC.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

What changed between versions

How they voted

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