SB 2158 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO VETERINARIANS.

Summary

Establishes the Veterinarian Workforce Development Special Fund. Establishes the Veterinarian Workforce Development Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program to support qualified veterinarians committed to or currently working in veterinary medicine in the State. Authorizes the Hawaii Board of Veterinary Medicine to enter into agreements, including memoranda of understanding, with the University of Hawaii, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, and accredited out-of-state schools to increase the availability of accredited veterinary programs and licensure opportunities to residents of the State. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2077. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2158 → SB2158_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was updated from the original Senate version to the Senate District 1 committee version, primarily changing the bill's effective date to January 1, 2077, and updating administrative metadata. The substantive policy language regarding veterinary workforce development, funding mechanisms, and program goals remained unchanged, with only minor formatting adjustments to line breaks and hyphenation.

Scope change

The scope of the bill itself did not change; the legislative intent to support the veterinary workforce remains the same. The only significant change affecting applicability is the new effective date.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2026, to January 1, 2077, which appears to be a clerical error or placeholder rather than an intentional policy shift.

TECHNICAL

Administrative metadata including bill numbers, author names, timestamps, and template revision numbers were updated to reflect the SD1 committee version.

Minor formatting changes were made to text wrapping and hyphenation in the legislative findings section, but the meaning of the text remains identical.

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

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from LBT/CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2313) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Lamosao, McKelvey; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in LBT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Elefante, Lamosao, Ihara, Moriwaki, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT/CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to LBT/CPN, WAM.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

5 primary · 1 co-sponsor