Requires the Department of Education to establish a program for the support of students experiencing homelessness. Requires the Department to designate a state coordinator position and state navigator positions to implement the program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
Repeals the preemption on county ordinances that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
Maddy summaryHB 2156 would raise the income or transaction thresholds that require businesses to file two specific taxes: the General Excise Tax (applied to most business activities) and the Transient Accommodations Tax (for short-term rentals like hotels or vacation homes). Businesses currently obligated to file below the new, higher thresholds would no longer need to file if their annual activity remains under the increased limit. This change directly affects small businesses and short-term rental operators who currently meet the lower filing requirements. The bill is pending committee referral as of January 2026, with no specific dollar amounts provided in the abstract.
Implements certain recommendations of the SPEED Task Force. Requires the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to develop a permitting workforce pipeline in partnership with the University of Hawaii and community colleges and coordinate with state and county permitting agencies on certain tasks related to classification levels, salary and benefits, hiring, and responsibilities of employees. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Makes both the representative of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii and the representative of the General Contractors Association of Hawaii permanent standing members of the State Building Code Council, instead of members who alternate terms every four years. Adds one representative of the Plumbers and Fitters United Association, Local 675, and one representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1186, as members of the State Building Code Council. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Repeals the prohibition placed on certain employees exempt from Civil Service Law from grieving a suspension or discharge. Allows any employee who is a member of an appropriate bargaining unit to grieve any disciplinary action, unless the collective bargaining agreement specifically provides otherwise. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Establishes a two-year-pilot program within the Department of Human Services to provide temporary financial stabilization assistance to families with students identified as experiencing homelessness. Funds the program through the Department of Human Services using allowable Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds. Requires Department of Education Complex Area Community Homeless Concerns Liaison to make approved purchases. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
Increases the number of enterprise zones that may be nominated by each county. Authorizes enterprise zone designation for census tracts that contain the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Allow businesses not established in an enterprise zone to qualify for enterprise zone benefits; provided that they have entered into a binding collaboration or contract with a business that is established in the census tract that contains the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine or the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
For purposes of registering a condominium project in an agricultural district, (1) lowers the minimum threshold from projects with five units to projects with two units for which a signed statement from a county is required and (2) requires the project applicant to make a presentation on the project to the neighborhood board, if applicable. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Requires a condominium association to make available on an internet site the association's general ledgers, project information form (RR-105C), and statement of accounts at no cost to a unit owner or the unit owner's authorized agent. Reduces the reasonable fee a condominium association may charge to provide copies of association documents from $1 per page to 75 cents per page.
