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SCR 179 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES AND RECOMMEND AMENDMENTS TO INCORPORATE GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMINOLOGY.

SCR 179 is a Senate Concurrent Resolution requesting the Hawaii LGBTQ+ Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women to review the Hawaii Revised Statutes and recommend amendments to replace gendered language with gender-neutral terminology. It directs these commissions to draft proposed legislation, create guidelines for future bills, and submit a final report with recommendations to the Legislature by early 2026. The resolution specifically aims to update statutes containing binary gender terms (like "he" or "she") to better reflect Hawaii's diverse population, following prior laws expanding marriage equality and gender marker options on state IDs. This procedural resolution does not change laws directly but initiates a review process to modernize statutory language.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SCR179 → SCR179_SD1 · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was significantly revised to shift the responsibility for reviewing gender-neutral language from the LGBTQ+ Commission and Commission on the Status of Women to the Legislative Reference Bureau. The scope of the review was expanded to include additional stakeholders like the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and University of Hawaii law school, and the timeline was extended to include a final report due in 2027 instead of just 2026.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded by adding the Legislative Reference Bureau as the primary reviewer and including additional consultation partners beyond the original commissions.
REQUIREMENT

Primary responsibility for reviewing Hawaii Revised Statutes shifted from the LGBTQ+ Commission and Commission on the Status of Women to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

New requirement for the Legislative Reference Bureau to consult with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law.

Additional certified copies of the resolution to be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law, Director of the Hawaii LGBT Legal Association, and Chair of the Lambda Law Hawaii student organization.

TIMELINE

Timeline extended to include a final report due forty days prior to the 2027 Regular Session, in addition to an interim report due forty days prior to the 2026 Regular Session.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
4
Committee
5
Apr 4, 2025
Committee
Referred to LMG, FIN, referral sheet 28
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Introduced
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 438) in amended form (SD 1).
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report and Resolution Adopted as amended (SD 1). Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 3 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte, Fevella). Transmitted to House.
upper
Mar 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1419) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-25 10:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Mar 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to JDC.
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Introduced
Offered.
upper
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.