HR 137 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

URGING THE INSURANCE DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO IDENTIFY FEASIBLE OPTIONS AND MECHANISMS TO PROTECT THE STATE AND ITS RESIDENTS AGAINST THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF INSURANCE.

This bill is a House resolution that asks Hawaii's Insurance Division to create a working group to explore ways to protect residents from climate change impacts on insurance availability and affordability. The working group would assess how extreme weather affects insurance exposure, review existing recovery mechanisms, and analyze legal options for seeking financial recovery from fossil fuel companies accused of contributing to climate disasters. The group would include state officials, committee chairs, insurance representatives, and experts, and must submit its findings and recommendations to legislative committees by May 2027 before dissolving in June 2027.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 16, 2026 Last action Apr 2, 2026

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What changed between versions

HR137 → HR137_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to remove the Department of the Attorney General from the working group, narrowing the scope to the Insurance Division alone. The reporting requirements were updated to direct findings to specific Senate and House committees instead of a broad list of officials, and the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund administrator was replaced with the Board of Directors Chair. These changes streamline the administrative process by focusing on a single department and specific legislative committees rather than a wider coalition of agencies.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed by removing the Department of the Attorney General from the entities required to convene the working group.

REQUIREMENT

The Department of the Attorney General was removed from the list of agencies required to convene the working group.

The reporting recipients were changed from a general list of officials to specific Senate and House Standing Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

The recipient for the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund notification was changed from the Administrator to the Chair of the Board of Directors.

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

Apr 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Cochran, Garcia, Gedeon, Muraoka, Pierick, Shimizu voting no (7) and none excused (0).

lower

Apr 2, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1760-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to JHA.

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Iwamoto, Kong, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Marten; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Lowen, Tam.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to CPC, JHA, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered

lower

9 primary · 0 co-sponsors