HB 2290 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

Summary

Establishes the Administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency as the Deputy Director of Emergency Management within the Department of Defense, under the direction of the Adjutant General. Clarifies the position's reporting structure and duties. Requires the Commission on Salaries, pursuant to section 26-56, HRS, to include the Deputy Director of Emergency Management in its recommendations for executive branch salary levels. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Feb 11, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB2290 → HB2290_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (EMA) by reorganizing its leadership structure within the Department of Defense. The primary change is renaming the 'Administrator of Emergency Management' to 'Deputy Director of Emergency Management' and placing this role under the direction of the Adjutant General. This shift aims to clarify the chain of command and strengthen coordination for responding to natural and human-caused disasters.

Scope change

The bill modifies the scope of the EMA's leadership by integrating it more directly into the Department of Defense hierarchy, changing the reporting line from an independent administrator to a deputy director under the Adjutant General.

DEFINITION

The title of the EMA head was changed from 'Administrator' to 'Deputy Director' in both the bill text and the HRS definitions.

REQUIREMENT

The Deputy Director's reporting structure was updated to be under the direction of the Adjutant General within the Department of Defense.

The list of positions exempt from civil service rules was updated to reflect the new 'Deputy Director' title.

TIMELINE

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

TECHNICAL

Spelling of 'Hawaii' was standardized to remove the Hawaiian diacritical mark (okina) in several instances.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 194-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to LAB.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to PBS, LAB, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors