HB 1840 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Summary

Requires the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to develop an alternative pathway for a visiting international educator permit aligned to the duration of the educator's J-1 visa program. Permits the Department of Education and charter schools to hire unlicensed individuals as teachers on an emergency basis for five, rather than three, years. Requires HTSB to extend the five-year period in the case of a declared state of emergency. Requires the Department of Education to provide support to assist emergency hires in meeting the requirements of licensure and require the training be mandatory for emergency hires in their fourth and fifth years. Effective 7/31/2055. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Education ✓ Immigration

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 22, 2026 Last action Apr 16, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1840_HD2 → HB1840_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was revised to shift the focus from a specific goal of doubling teacher graduates at the University of Hawaii to a broader mandate for the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to create a new visa pathway for international educators. The revision also changed the Department of Education's obligation from providing mandatory training to simply providing support for licensure, while extending the emergency hiring timeline to five years.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include international educators participating in J-1 visa programs and removed the specific graduation target for the University of Hawaii.

SCOPE

Added a requirement for the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to develop an alternative permit pathway for visiting international educators aligned with J-1 visa durations.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the specific goal requiring the University of Hawaii to double the number of newly licensed teacher graduates by 2031.

Changed the Department of Education's duty from providing mandatory training to assist with passing the Praxis exam to providing general support for meeting licensure requirements.

TIMELINE

Updated the effective date of the Act from July 1, 3000, to July 31, 2055.

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

Apr 14, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 533) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Apr 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..

upper

Apr 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-06-26 10:32AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3260) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Kidani, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-23-26 1:11PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU, WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 296).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Perruso voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Iwamoto voting no (1) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Kong, Lowen, Tam; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Iwamoto, Marten, Pierick.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 321-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Amato, Muraoka; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, CPC, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

16 primary · 0 co-sponsors