HB 1968 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO PERMITTING.

Summary

Requires and appropriates funds for the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, in collaboration with a county selected by the Department, to develop an artificial intelligence-assisted pre-compliance intake pilot platform, subject to a matching funds requirement for the county. Requires the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to develop a policy or metric to measure the success of the pilot platform. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 11, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB1968 → HB1968_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to shift from creating a statewide permitting system to a limited pilot program focused on single-family homes in one county. The changes introduce a requirement for the state to collaborate with a selected county and use artificial intelligence for pre-compliance intake, while adding a mandate to measure the pilot's success before statewide adoption. Funding amounts were adjusted to reflect this pilot scope, and the effective date was set to the distant future of July 1, 3000.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from a statewide platform for all permit types to a pilot program limited to single-family home projects in a single county selected by the state department.

SCOPE

The project scope changed from a statewide intake platform to an artificial intelligence-assisted pilot platform limited to single-family homes in one county.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement was added for the state department to develop a policy or metric to measure the pilot's success before considering adoption by all counties.

FISCAL

Funding provisions were modified to appropriate money for the specific pilot platform and to require matching funds from the selected county, with the specific dollar amount left blank for the county to fill in.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 145-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to WAL.

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Holt, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, WAL, FIN, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

20 primary · 0 co-sponsors