HB 1721 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOUSING.

HB 1721 clarifies insurance, financial protection, and certificate of occupancy requirements to streamline expedited housing permits. It directly affects developers and local housing authorities by reducing bureaucratic delays in permit approvals. The bill establishes temporary rules that would expire on June 30, 2031, and take effect July 1, 2030. This is a procedural change focused on accelerating housing construction timelines through simplified permit processes.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Signed Jun 26, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1721_SD1 → HB1721_SD2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill version was updated from SD1 to SD2, reflecting a revision in the legislative drafting process. The substantive policy content regarding expedited permitting, insurance requirements, and inspection protocols remains unchanged, with the primary differences being administrative metadata updates and minor formatting adjustments to text blocks.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill metadata including the drafter name, page count, and revision timestamps to reflect the second special draft version.

Adjusted the bill identifier from S.D. 1 to S.D. 2 to indicate the new version number.

Corrected a line break in a paragraph discussing insurance concerns to improve readability without altering the meaning.

Reformatted a section regarding construction defect responsibilities to ensure consistent spacing and line breaks.

Adjusted punctuation and spacing in the section describing how certificates of occupancy are approved.

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

Amendments

May 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Fukunaga).

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-01-26

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 16-26).

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 16-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, Keohokalole; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Apr 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Matayoshi, Tarnas, Cochran; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Friday, 04-24-26 10:10AM in conference room 224.

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 613) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Lamosao, McKelvey; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Apr 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN will hold a public decision making on 04-07-26 9:25AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to CPN.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Committee

Reported from EIG/HOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3198) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EIG were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, DeCoite, Richards, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EIG/HOU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-26 3:02PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to EIG/HOU, CPN.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 270).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Kong, Pierick excused (2). 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: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Cochran, Kahaloa, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Hashem, Sayama.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 681-26), recommending referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Iwamoto, Kong, Marten, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Lowen.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 110-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Cochran, Grandinetti, Kila, La Chica, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kitagawa.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to HSG, CPC, JHA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors