SB 3000 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO INSURANCE.

Summary

Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in the name of the people of the State as parens patriae against any responsible party to recover certain costs or obtain certain relief, including costs and losses incurred by the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, or other state entities, resulting from climate attributable harm or costs for risk of future climate attributable harm. Authorizes the Hawaii Property Insurance Association and Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, or any private insurer licensed in the State to bring a civil cause of action against a responsible party to recover its costs and losses resulting from climate attributable harm. Establishes the Climate Disaster Special Fund to collect and disperse funds collected from certain civil actions to be distributed in a certain order of priority. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB3000 → SB3000_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill amendment adds a new 'Climate Disaster Special Fund' to collect money recovered from lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, prioritizing payments to policyholders and the state hurricane relief fund. It also updates the effective date to July 1, 2050, and clarifies that recovered funds can cover future climate risks, not just past damages.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly include the recovery of costs related to the 'risk of future climate attributable harm' and established a new mechanism for distributing recovered funds.

FISCAL

Created a new 'Climate Disaster Special Fund' administered by the Attorney General to hold and distribute money recovered from civil actions.

Established a specific priority order for distributing funds: first to policyholders and claims costs, then to the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, then to court costs, and finally to community mitigation projects.

TIMELINE

Changed the bill's effective date from immediate approval to July 1, 2050.

SCOPE

Expanded the definition of recoverable costs to include the 'risk of future climate attributable harm,' broadening the basis for lawsuits against responsible parties.

TECHNICAL

Updated internal bill numbering and formatting to reflect the Senate District 1 version of the legislation.

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

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

The recommendation was not adopted.

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Elefante, Kanuha, Lee, C.; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 9 No(es): Senator(s) Moriwaki, DeCoite, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. 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

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC/WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-04-26 10:35AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2280) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC/WAM.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, McKelvey; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lamosao.

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN has rescheduled its public hearing to 02-10-26 9:45AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN deleted the measure from the public hearing scheduled on 02-09-26 10:15AM; CR 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-09-26 10:15AM; CR 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to CPN, JDC/WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

4 primary · 2 co-sponsors