HB 2231 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ISLAND BURIAL COUNCILS.

Summary

Transfers the appointment authority for Island Burial Council members from the Governor and Senate to the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

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 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2231 → HB2231_HD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill transfers the authority to appoint members of Island Burial Councils from the Governor and Senate to the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The change aims to ensure appointments are culturally appropriate and reflect genealogical connections, addressing previous issues of stalled decisions and community distrust. The effective date of the law is set to July 1, 3000, likely as a placeholder for future legislative action.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded by shifting appointment authority from the executive and legislative branches to a specific state agency (Office of Hawaiian Affairs), thereby changing who has the power to select council members.

REQUIREMENT

Appointment authority for Island Burial Council members was transferred from the Governor and Senate to the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

TIMELINE

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

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House. No roll call record of that vote is available.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to HWN/WLA, JDC.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 195).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Quinlan, Sayama excused (3). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 705-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Morikawa, Belatti, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to WAL, JHA, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

11 primary · 0 co-sponsors