HB 1974 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HEALTH.

HB 1974 requires the State Health Planning and Development Agency to create and publish a comprehensive state plan addressing hearing loss, using state funds that the bill appropriates. This bill directly affects the State Health Planning and Development Agency, mandating it to develop the plan within a specified timeframe. The key provision is the allocation of state funding to support the agency's work in researching and outlining strategies to address hearing loss across the state. The bill passed a committee recommendation with amendments in February 2026, moving it toward potential passage.

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 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1974_HD1 → HB1974_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill version was updated from the House draft to the Senate draft, primarily changing the bill's authorship and version numbers. The most significant substantive change is the effective date of the new hearing loss state plan, which was moved from July 1, 3000, to January 1, 2050. This adjustment likely reflects a strategic decision to set a more realistic timeline for the state to develop and publish the plan.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on funding the State Health Planning and Development Agency to create a state plan on hearing loss, with no changes to the specific data points or analysis requirements included in that plan.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the state plan on hearing loss was changed from July 1, 3000, to January 1, 2050, making the deadline significantly sooner and more practical.

TECHNICAL

The bill's authorship was updated from Emma Berman (House) to Fredrick Akau and Ainoa Naniole (Senate), and the document revision numbers were updated to reflect the Senate version.

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; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).

lower

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 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. 177-26).

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 177-26) as amended in (CD 1).

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: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) McKelvey, Moriwaki; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Takayama, Olds, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Alcos; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 3:45PM in conference room 329.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Thursday 04-30-26 4:00PM in conference room 329.

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Tuesday, 04-28-26 3:45PM in conference room 329.

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 648) 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 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Committee

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3192) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 70).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Lee, M..

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from HLT/HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 341-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Hartsfield, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HLT recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Takayama, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Amato, Hartsfield, Marten, Olds, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to HLT/HSH, FIN, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

26 primary · 0 co-sponsors