HB 1894 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Summary

Requires the Department of Education to include the instruction of braille and provision of braille instructional materials under certain circumstances; provide braille literacy support services; cooperate with the Department of Human Services when requested to submit information necessary to maintain a register of the blind in the State; provide comprehensive information about braille literacy services, assistive technology devices, and assistive technology services, including educational programming options; and participate in the development of section 504 plans and individualized education programs. Appropriates funds. (CD1)

Issues: ✓ Education ✓ Technology

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jul 2026

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Signed Jul 14, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1894_HD1 → HB1894_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised from House Draft 1 to Senate Draft 1, updating administrative metadata, correcting capitalization in the study citation, and refining legal definitions. The most significant substantive change is the effective date, which was moved from a placeholder year of 3000 to July 31, 2055, indicating the law will not take effect until that future date.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on promoting braille literacy, but the applicability timeline has shifted significantly to a future effective date of July 31, 2055.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000 to July 31, 2055.

TECHNICAL

Administrative metadata, including author names, revision numbers, and tracking codes, were updated to reflect the Senate draft status.

Capitalization in the study citation was corrected to use lowercase 'braille' instead of 'Braille' for consistency.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'Braille' was updated to reference the correct section number (302A-442.5) and the definition of 'Section 504 plan' was corrected to include 'of' in the statute name.

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

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.

upper

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

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 178-26).

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 178-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, Lee, M., La Chica, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, McKelvey, Kidani, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 1:30PM in conference room 229.

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 1:30PM; Conference Room 229.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Tuesday, 04-28-26 1:35PM in conference room 229.

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 638) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 14, 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 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-08-26 10:02AM; 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/HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3389) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU/HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:10PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDU/HHS, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 164).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Sayama excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 519-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Garrett.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

23 primary · 0 co-sponsors