HB 2545 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE HAWAII TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.

Summary

Requires the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation to establish the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Matching Program. Requires the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, to establish a STEM education outreach program, under which recipients of funds from the SBIR Matching Program must deliver presentations to public school students. Requires and appropriates funds for the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation to develop an Economic Diversification Strategic Plan. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds for economic diversification and defense ecosystem development. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Education ✓ Technology

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 Mar 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2545_HD1 → HB2545_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to transition from a House draft to a Senate version, updating metadata and dates. Substantively, the text was edited to clarify that federal awards include both 'small business innovation research' and 'small business technology transfer' programs, with 'or' replacing 'and' to broaden eligibility. The distribution of funds was changed from 'appropriations' to 'available funding' to allow for pro-rata distribution if funds are insufficient. Reporting requirements were expanded to explicitly track 'matching fund recipient companies' and clarify that job creation and investment are results of the program itself. The bill title and summary were updated to reflect these changes and add a requirement for annual reports to the legislature.

Scope change

The bill's scope was broadened to include both Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal awards, whereas the previous version only explicitly listed SBIR awards.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility criteria were updated to include recipients of both Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer federal awards, replacing 'and' with 'or' to ensure companies qualifying for either program can apply for state matching funds.

FISCAL

The mechanism for distributing matching funds was changed from a fixed allocation based on 'available appropriations' to a flexible 'available funding' model, allowing the corporation to distribute funds on a pro-rata basis if total requests exceed the budget.

REQUIREMENT

New reporting requirements mandate that annual reports specifically track 'matching fund recipient companies' rather than just supported companies, clarifying the link between state funds and outcomes like job creation and investment.

The STEM education outreach program description was expanded to explicitly require that recipients of SBIR/STTR funds must deliver presentations to public school students as a condition of receiving state matching funds.

TECHNICAL

Metadata, dates, and document identifiers were updated to reflect the transition from the House version (HD1) to the Senate version (SD1), and the bill title was updated to include 'Reports' and clarify the program name.

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

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 EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3195) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga, Kim, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 217).

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Iwamoto voting no (1) and Representative(s) Perruso, Quinlan, Sayama excused (3). 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 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 420-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 13, 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; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

10 primary · 0 co-sponsors