SR 57 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DISABILITY AND COMMUNICATION ACCESS BOARD TO STUDY THE COMMUNICATION NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF, HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAF-BLIND IN HEALTH CARE SETTINGS AND MAKE NECESSARY REVISIONS TO THE GUIDANCE FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.

This Senate Resolution asks Hawaii's Disability and Communication Access Board to study how healthcare providers can better communicate with deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind patients. The study will examine interpreter availability, patient preferences, special needs in hospital and nursing facility settings, and legal requirements for communication services. Based on its findings, the Board will update existing guidance for healthcare providers and submit a report with recommendations to the Legislature by late 2027. This resolution does not create new laws but directs a study to improve communication access for individuals with hearing or vision disabilities in medical settings.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 12, 2026 Last action May 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

SR57 → SR57_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated from a Senate-only version to a version applicable to both the Senate and House of Representatives, with the sponsor changed to Fredrick Akau. The core policy language was modified to clarify that the Disability and Communication Access Board should not only study communication needs but also make necessary revisions to existing guidance for healthcare providers. Technical corrections were made to the legal citations and formatting throughout the document.

Scope change

The bill's applicability was expanded from the Senate only to include both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

REQUIREMENT

The resolution's request to the Disability and Communication Access Board was expanded to explicitly include making necessary revisions to current guidance, rather than just conducting a study.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and sponsor information were updated to reflect the new version (SD1) and the new sponsor, Fredrick Akau.

Legal citations were corrected, specifically updating the Americans with Disabilities Act section number and standardizing the spelling of 'health care' versus 'healthcare'.

Minor formatting and spacing adjustments were made to the text, such as removing extra blank lines and adjusting hyphenation in compound words.

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

Apr 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3487) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 30, 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, Kanuha, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Keohokalole.

upper

Mar 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-30-26 1:07PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Offered.

upper

3 primary · 1 co-sponsor