SB 2259 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM.

Summary

Establishes the Hawaii Dementia Initiative Business Recognition Program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Appropriates funds. (CD1)

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jul 2026

Introduced Jan 15, 2026 Signed Jul 14, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2259_HD1 → SB2259_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to transition from a House version (HD1) to a Senate version (SD1), updating authorship and document metadata. The core policy changes include refining the program's purpose to emphasize workforce capability, clarifying that training applies to all current employees, and correcting the effective date from the erroneous year 3000 to 2050.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing a dementia-friendly business recognition program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, with no changes to the fundamental eligibility criteria for businesses or the specific training requirements.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050, correcting a likely clerical error.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for employee training was clarified to ensure all current employees must complete the session to qualify the business.

DEFINITION

The legislative purpose was slightly reworded to explicitly frame the initiative as an economic and community development priority alongside a health issue.

TECHNICAL

Authorship details and document revision numbers were updated to reflect the transition from the House to the Senate version.

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

Amendments

May 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.

upper

May 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 237-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

May 1, 2026

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26.

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 237-26).

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 309.

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:37 PM; Conference Room 329.

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 4:31PM in Conference Room 411.

lower

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 11:30AM in Conference Room 411.

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 8:01AM in conference room 411.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-30-26 8:30AM in conference room 411.

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 503).

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Apr 7, 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; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Mar 24, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1328-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 15

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 10) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Gabbard). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Richards.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-19-26 10:30AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2190) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 3, 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

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 15, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

7 primary · 1 co-sponsor