HB 1607 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO PUBLIC PROCUREMENT.

Summary

Permanently establishes the Small Business Procurement Program and Small Business Procurement Coordinator position within the State Procurement Office. Requires purchasing agencies to apply a local preference to Hawaii businesses in evaluating contracts awarded by competitive sealed bidding or competitive sealed proposals. Establishes criteria for a Hawaii business to qualify for a local preference. Establishes procedures for contract awardees who fail to meet or maintain the preference criteria. Establishes a special fund and requires the Small Business Procurement Coordinator to establish rules and policies, effective 1/1/2029, requiring small businesses to commit to contributing 0.2 per cent of state contract awards to the special fund. Repeals the Small Business Assistance Initiative established in Act 168, SLH 2022. Appropriates funds for the Small Business Procurement Coordinator. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB1607 → HB1607_HD1 · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill fundamentally shifts from a temporary local preference system to a permanent Small Business Procurement Program. It replaces tiered local preference percentages with a flat 5% preference for all contracts and repeals the previous Small Business Assistance Initiative. The bill also creates a new special fund requiring small businesses to contribute 0.2% of their contract awards starting in 2029 and appropriates $126,000 to fund a permanent procurement coordinator.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope by permanently establishing a dedicated small business program and coordinator, while simultaneously repealing the prior temporary initiative (Act 168). It also broadens the definition of eligible businesses to explicitly include those owned by veterans, Native Hawaiians, and women.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced tiered local preference percentages (ranging from 2% to 10%) with a flat 5% preference for all contracts.

Created a new special fund requiring small businesses to contribute 0.2% of state contract awards, effective January 1, 2029.

FISCAL

Appropriated $126,000 to establish a permanent full-time Small Business Procurement Coordinator position.

TIMELINE

Repealed the temporary Small Business Assistance Initiative established in Act 168, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022.

Changed the effective date of the Act to July 1, 3000, with the new program starting January 1, 2029.

DEFINITION

Explicitly included businesses owned by veterans, Native Hawaiians, and women in the definition of small businesses eligible for the program.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed the local preference qualification requirement from '80% of labor' to '51% of labor' incurred from persons domiciled in Hawaii.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 508-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

18 primary · 0 co-sponsors