HB 1531 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Summary

Requires the Governor or mayor of a county, during a state of emergency, to provide an American Sign Language interpreter at each live broadcast press conference. Requires the Governor or mayor of a county to provide a primary pool feed for any live official announcement that includes an American Sign Language interpreter in a picture-in-picture window, and does not require broadcasters that rebroadcast the official announcement to independently generate or insert this accessibility feature. Requires, to the fullest extent possible, that the American Sign Language interpreter's face, body, arms, and hands are visible. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Mar 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1531_HD1 → HB1531_HD2 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify that the requirement for an American Sign Language interpreter applies specifically to live broadcast press conferences during a state of emergency, rather than all official announcements. The revision also mandates that the interpreter's face, body, arms, and hands remain visible and specifies that the picture-in-picture window must be at least one-quarter the size of the primary video feed to ensure accessibility.

Scope change

The scope of the requirement was narrowed from general official announcements to specifically 'live broadcast press conferences' during a state of emergency.

REQUIREMENT

The mandatory provision for an American Sign Language interpreter was restricted to 'live broadcast press conferences' instead of applying to all official announcements.

New specifications require the interpreter's face, body, arms, and hands to be physically visible and mandate that the picture-in-picture window be at least one-quarter the size of the primary video feed.

Added a requirement that on-screen text, graphics, or captions must be repositioned if necessary to ensure the interpreter is not blocked or covered.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to PSM, WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 240).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia, Gedeon, Hartsfield, Kahaloa, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kila, Olds, Shimizu, Souza voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Cochran, Hashem, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Kahaloa, Garcia, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 191-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Ichiyama, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to PBS, JHA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors