SB 2919 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER.

SB 2919 appropriates funds to hire one full-time equivalent Deputy Public Defender III position within the Office of the Public Defender. This bill directly affects the Office of the Public Defender by providing dedicated staffing resources for their operations. The key provision is the allocation of state funds specifically for this new staff role, which would support the office's capacity to represent indigent defendants in court. The bill does not create new legal requirements or change existing laws, focusing solely on budgetary support for personnel.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action May 1, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2919_HD1 → SB2919_SD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to transition from a House Draft (HD1) to a Senate Draft (SD1), updating metadata such as bill numbers, dates, and revision counts. The substantive policy content regarding the appropriation of funds for a Deputy Public Defender III position remains unchanged, but the effective date of the act was modified from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the funding of a public defender position remains the same; only the metadata and the future effective date were altered.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the legislation was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 2050.

TECHNICAL

Metadata fields including bill version numbers, author names, and revision dates were updated to reflect the Senate Draft status.

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 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 2:00PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-29-26 2:00PM; CR 325.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 04-28-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Monday 04-27-26 2:00PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-24-26 3:10PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-23-26 2:35PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 16, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 714).

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia, Pierick voting no (3) and Representative(s) Quinlan 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: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa.

lower

Mar 25, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1416-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Garcia; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Sayama.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 15

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 18) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. 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 and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2203) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in JDC were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-10-26 9:15AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors