HB 2138 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Summary

Establishes a Hilo-Kona transportation pilot program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to study, plan, evaluate, implement, and trial transportation routes and services connecting Hilo and Kona. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Transportation

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Mar 17, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2138 → HB2138_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was revised to standardize capitalization in the title and opening text, changing 'East Hawaii' and 'West Hawaii' to lowercase. The most significant substantive change is the effective date, which was shifted from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000, likely indicating a placeholder or error in the draft version. The bill's scope regarding the Hilo-Kona transportation pilot program remains otherwise unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the pilot program is unchanged, but the effective date was modified significantly, and minor text capitalization was standardized.

TIMELINE

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

TECHNICAL

Capitalization in the title and opening sentence was changed from 'East Hawaii' and 'West Hawaii' to 'east Hawaii' and 'west Hawaii'.

Capitalization in the summary of the pilot program was changed from 'Hilo and Kona' to 'Hilo and Kona' (no change in words, but context implies standardization of the effective date note).

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to EDT/TRS, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 82).

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

Mar 2, 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; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 655-26), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 257-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to TRN.

lower

Feb 11, 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; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, TRN, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

12 primary · 1 co-sponsor