HB 9 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

DESIGNATING HAWAII AS A PURPLE HEART STATE.

HB 9 designates Hawaii as a "Purple Heart State" through a symbolic legislative declaration. This procedural bill does not create new policies, funding, or direct benefits; it solely recognizes Hawaii's connection to military service through official state designation. The bill’s key mechanism is the formal adoption of this title in state law, aligning with the Purple Heart military decoration's purpose. No specific groups or programs are affected by this ceremonial designation.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2025 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB9 → HB9_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated to reflect its first House reading (HD1) and adjusted the effective date from 'upon approval' to a specific future date of July 1, 3000. The text was also slightly edited to reduce the number of veterans mentioned in the findings section, though the core purpose of designating Hawaii a Purple Heart state remains unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to designate Hawaii as a Purple Heart state.

TIMELINE

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

TECHNICAL

The descriptive text regarding the number of veterans was slightly reduced from 'multitudes' to 'many'.

Metadata headers were updated to reflect the bill's progression to the first House reading (HD1) and updated version numbers.

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

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to PSM/WLA.

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 4).

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CAA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Kapela, Kong, Garrett, Lee, M., Sayama, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 193-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CAA.

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to PBS, CAA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 9, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors