HB 547 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE SPAYING AND NEUTERING OF ANIMALS.

Summary

Establishes the Spay and Neuter Special Fund to reduce pet overpopulation and the reproduction of free-roaming cats. Establishes various revenue and fundraising sources for the special fund. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB547_HD1 → HB547_HD2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was renumbered from House Bill 547 HD1 to HD2 and updated with new legislative dates. The core policy remains establishing a fund to reduce pet overpopulation, but the text was clarified to explicitly state that the fund's purpose includes establishing revenue sources, not just reducing overpopulation. The bill also updated the specific code section for income tax refund designations from a placeholder to section 235-102.5(e) and slightly reorganized the description of how joint tax returns can contribute to the fund.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's purpose was slightly clarified to explicitly include the establishment of revenue sources, while the applicability of the fund and the tax contribution mechanism remains the same.

TECHNICAL

The bill number was changed from HD1 to HD2, and associated metadata dates and identifiers were updated.

The description of the joint tax return contribution process was rephrased for clarity, though the financial rules ($2 per spouse on refunds of $4 or more) remain unchanged.

REQUIREMENT

The legislative purpose statement was revised to explicitly mention establishing revenue and fundraising sources as part of the fund's purpose, in addition to reducing pet overpopulation.

The specific statutory reference for income tax refund designations was updated from a placeholder to section 235-102.5(e).

SCOPE

The summary description of the bill was updated to reflect the new title including 'Income Tax Check-off' instead of just 'Income Check-off'.

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

Feb 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Matayoshi, Poepoe, Ward excused (4).

lower

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from CAA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 680) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on CAA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Kapela, Kong, Garrett, Lee, M., Sayama; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Reyes Oda.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 232) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CAA.

lower

Feb 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Kahaloa, Kusch, Lowen, Perruso; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan, Ward.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to AGR, CAA, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

25 primary · 0 co-sponsors