SB 3134 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SYSTEMS OF CARE.

SB 3134 updates Hawaii's emergency medical services (EMS) laws to align with current best practices and standards. It directly affects EMS providers, ambulance services, and emergency care systems across the state by modernizing outdated regulatory requirements. The bill focuses on revising statutes to reflect contemporary emergency medical care protocols without specifying new funding or personnel mandates. Currently pending a public hearing before the Health and Human Services committee on February 6, 2026.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Mar 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB3134_SD1 → SB3134_SD2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates Hawaii's emergency medical services (EMS) statutes to modernize care delivery and address gaps exposed by recent disasters. It strengthens the advisory committee by renaming it to a 'council' and adding consumer representation, while clarifying the department's authority to oversee EMS levels across counties. The changes also expand the bill's scope to include a new section on accepting grants and technical assistance for the state EMS system.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include a mechanism for the state system to seek and accept external funding and property from any source, and to formalize the department's role in assisting with grant applications.

REQUIREMENT

The advisory committee was renamed to an 'advisory council,' and its composition was adjusted to ensure at least one physician is a pediatric specialist and to include four consumer members with no connection to health care providers.

FISCAL

A new provision was added allowing the state EMS system to seek and accept grants, gifts, and services from any source, with the department required to provide technical assistance for grant applications.

DEFINITION

The definition of the department's responsibilities was updated to clarify that it must maintain a statewide communication system with interoperability capabilities.

TECHNICAL

Several formatting and punctuation adjustments were made throughout the text, including changing 'time-sensitive' to 'time-sensitive' in specific contexts and updating bracketed text to reflect repealed material more clearly.

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 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to HLT, CPC, referral sheet 17

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 368) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Mar 5, 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

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 03-05-26 10:01AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Committee

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2289) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS, JDC.

upper

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors