SB 191 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO ENERGY ASSISTANCE.

Summary

Establishes the Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program within the Department of Human Services to assist eligible households in paying their energy bills. Requires the Public Utilities Commission Public Benefits Fee Administrator to provide certain information and assistance to recipients of the program. Establishes positions. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Energy

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2025 Last action Mar 21, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB191_HD1 → SB191_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a House Draft to a Senate Draft version, with substantive text changes including updated statutory language, corrected agency names (e.g., 'department of human services' instead of 'department of health and human services'), modified eligibility criteria, and revised the effective date from December 31, 2050 to December 31, 2025. The core policy intent remains establishing a Hawaii home energy assistance program.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing a state low-income home energy assistance program, but eligibility criteria and program administration details were refined with clearer language about income limits and utility account requirements.

TIMELINE

Effective date changed from December 31, 2050 to December 31, 2025, making the program operational much sooner.

DEFINITION

Updated agency references to use 'department of human services' consistently instead of 'department of health and human services'.

ELIGIBILITY

Revised eligibility requirements to clarify that applicants must have an active utility account and meet income limits established by the department.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for the public utilities commission administrator to provide energy audits and assist with energy efficiency improvements for program recipients.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and markup changes reflect transition from House to Senate version with updated metadata and template information.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 4, 2025

How they voted

25–0

Passed

Total votes 25

Mar 4, 2025

D Democratic22

22 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican3

3 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 21, 2025

Committee

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Garrett, Kapela, Kitagawa, Ward excused (5).

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1475), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 19, 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, Tam; Ayes with reservations: none; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Pierick; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Ilagan, Marten.

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from EEP/HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1245) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Chun, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia.

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Kahaloa, Kusch; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan, Ward.

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to EEP/HSH, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 108) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Aquino, Fevella.

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, McKelvey, Richards, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN/WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-26-25 10:00AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 148) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN/WAM.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Aquino, Hashimoto, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 01-27-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to HHS, CPN/WAM.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 13, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

2 primary · 2 co-sponsors