RELATING TO THE HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.
Summary
Establishes the Administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency as the Deputy Director of Emergency Management within the Department of Defense, under the direction of the Adjutant General. Clarifies the position's reporting structure and duties. Requires the Commission on Salaries to include the Deputy Director of Emergency Management in its recommendations for executive branch salary levels. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Bill status
passed both
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
May 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House Passage
Apr 2026
Governor
Introduced Jan 26, 2026
Last action May 1, 2026
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What changed between versions
SB3109_HD1
→
SB3109_SD1
·
6 edits
MODERATE
This bill reorganizes the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency by moving its leadership from the Department of Defense's chain of command to a structure modeled after the Department of Transportation. It changes the title of the top official from 'Administrator' to 'Deputy Director' and places them directly under the Adjutant General to clarify authority and improve disaster response coordination. The change also updates the state's civil service exemptions to include this new deputy director role.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of civil service exemptions by adding the Deputy Director of Emergency Management to the list of positions exempt from standard civil service recruitment procedures.
REQUIREMENT
The title of the top emergency management official was changed from 'Administrator' to 'Deputy Director'.
The Deputy Director is now explicitly placed under the direction of the Adjutant General within the Department of Defense, replacing the previous reporting structure.
The Deputy Director role was added to the list of positions exempt from normal civil service recruitment procedures.
All existing references to the 'Administrator' in laws, rules, and agency materials must now be updated to refer to the 'Deputy Director'.
DEFINITION
The legal definition of 'Administrator' was repealed and replaced with a new definition for 'Deputy Director' in the relevant statutes.
TIMELINE
The effective date for these changes is set to July 1, 2050.
Floor votes
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
52
Key actions
23
Committee
24
Amendments
1
May 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:51 PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
May 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
May 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:10 PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
May 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 4:30 PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
May 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 3:30 PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 1:45PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 1:45PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-29-26 1:45PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-27-26 1:45PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-24-26 1:35PM; Conference Room 016.
upper
Apr 16, 2026
Amended
Senate disagrees with House amendments.
upper
Apr 16, 2026
Introduced
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 746).
upper
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.
lower
Apr 8, 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; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Committee
Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1454-26), recommending referral to FIN.
lower
Mar 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
lower
Mar 18, 2026
Committee
Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1214-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to LAB.
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama.
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Committee
Referred to PBS, LAB, FIN, referral sheet 16
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 110) in amended form (SD 1).
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House.
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-25-26 10:55AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
upper
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 PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2371) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in PSM were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Fukunaga, Hashimoto, Inouye, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on PSM added the measure to the public hearing scheduled on 02-11-26 3:00PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Feb 8, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on PSM deleted the measure from the public hearing scheduled on 02-09-26 3:15PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Feb 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 02-09-26 3:15PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
Referred to PSM, WAM.
upper
Jan 28, 2026
Introduced
Introduced.
upper
Jan 26, 2026
Introduced
Pending Introduction.
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Ron Kouchi
DDemocratic
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