HB 2437 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION.

HB 2437 allocates state funds to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to support its "Artists in the Schools" program. This program directly brings professional artists into public schools to provide hands-on arts education. The bill provides concrete funding for the program's operations, including artist stipends and materials. It affects participating public schools and their students by expanding access to in-person arts instruction.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action May 27, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2437_HD1 → HB2437_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to transition from the House version (HD1) to the Senate version (SD1), updating the bill identifier and associated metadata. The most significant substantive change is the effective date of the act, which was moved from July 1, 3000, to January 1, 3000, altering when the funding for the Artists in the Schools Program becomes active.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on funding the Artists in the Schools Program through the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, but the timing of implementation has shifted to an earlier date.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the act was changed from July 1, 3000, to January 1, 3000, meaning the program funding will begin six months earlier than in the previous version.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and version identifiers were updated from HB2437 HD1 to HB2437 SD1 to reflect the Senate's version of the legislation.

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

May 27, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from WLA/EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3367) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WLA recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WLA were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Lee, C., Lamosao, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Inouye, Chang.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WLA/EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:11PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to WLA/EDU, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 107).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Feb 26, 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; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Reported from CAA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 248-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CAA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Kapela, Kong, Garrett, Lee, M.; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama, Reyes Oda.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to CAA, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

15 primary · 0 co-sponsors