Rep. Tyson Miyake

Establishes the Hawaiʻi Cannabis Authority and Cannabis Control Board within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate all aspects of the cannabis plant. Beginning January 1, 2026, legalizes the personal adult use of cannabis. Establishes taxes for adult-use cannabis sales. Transfers the personnel and assets of the Department of Health and assets Department of Agriculture to the Hawaiʻi Cannabis Authority. Appropriates funds.

Excludes from the definition of "laws" in section 127A-2, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes, county charter provisions pertaining to executive, legislative, and administrative structure and organization are excluded.

Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center to conduct a multiethnic cohort study focusing on the social determinants of health, lifestyles, environmental exposures, and resilience factors of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos. Requires the Cancer Center to seek federal funding to complete the study.

Repeals language requiring the Procurement Policy Board to adopt rules regarding differing site conditions. Requires every construction contract to include a clause that requires the procurement officer to investigate the site conditions and modify the contract in writing if differing site conditions exist.

Prohibits private and state workforce development programs from rejecting an applicant who is 18 years of age or younger based solely on the applicant's active sentence of probation; provided that the applicant is in full compliance with any court-ordered requirements or conditions.

Requires the transfer of the Maui State Veterans Home to the Oahu Regional Health Care System and then to the Department of Health, as part of the Oahu Regional Health Care System transfer pursuant to Act 212, Session Laws of Hawaiʻi 2021.

Establishes the Public Education Scholarship Program within the University of Hawaiʻi to provide students who are residents of the State with scholarships in return for a service commitment to teach in a public school classroom of the Department of Education or Hawaiʻi public charter school, under certain conditions. Appropriates funds.

Establishes a working group within the Department of Health to comprehensively and systematically map the array of child and adolescent mental health programs and services statewide. Appropriates moneys. Declares that the appropriation exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling for 2024-2025.

Requires a protest to be submitted within seven calendar days after the posting of award of the contract. Establishes that a party is not aggrieved until official action, adverse to that party, has been taken. Amends the minimum per cent value of a contract required for parties to a protest of an award to initiate proceedings from ten per cent to five per cent.

Modifies penalties for violations of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations rules from a fixed fine to a fine proportional to the yearly income of the violator.