Establishes a process, beginning on January 1, 2026, for automatically preregistering or registering public, charter, and private school-enrolled students who are at least 16 years old to vote.
Beginning 1/1/2026, increases the tip credit to be twenty per cent of the minimum wage and requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to annually calculate an adjusted tip credit amount.
Establishes the Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program within the Department of Human Services to assist households in paying their energy bills. Requires the Public Utilities Commission's Public Benefits Fee Administrator to provide information and technical assistance about available energy efficiency programs to recipients of the program. Appropriates funds.
Maddy summaryHB 219 provides state and county employees with five days of paid leave each calendar year for family care needs, such as caring for a new child or a sick family member. The bill directly affects public employees working for state or county governments, establishing a new entitlement without requiring employer contributions. Key provisions include setting an annual limit of five paid days and defining eligibility for state and county workforce members. This policy change creates a new benefit for public employees but does not apply to private-sector workers. The bill is currently in early stages, having been introduced on January 16, 2025.
Appropriates moneys to the Office of Veterans' Services to perform its statutory duties, including maintaining a center that provides information, counsel, aid, and assistance to veterans, their families, and their dependents; and cooperating with federal agencies responsible for the administration of rights and benefits granted to veterans, their families, and their dependents.
Revises the deadline for a county council to take action on a low- and moderate-income housing project's application from 45 days to 90 days after receipt of the applicable agency's report and the proposed project's preliminary plans and specifications.
Requires graduates of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine who have paid in-state tuition to serve as a physician in the State for at least 2 years following their medical residency or fellowship. Begins with the class of 2029.
Establishes the Hawaii Food Security Special Fund to restore Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit levels to those provided in federal fiscal year 2023. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.
Allows the Hawaii Community Development Authority to approve residential development on certain parcels of land in the Kakaako Makai area. Raises the building height limit on certain parcels in the area. Requires a certain percentage of the residential units developed on certain parcels to be allocated to households at or below a certain income level, with priority given to certain essential workforce in the area. Limits the sale of residential units developed in certain residential developments to prospective owner-occupants. Requires the Hawaii Community Development Authority to determine a Kakaako Makai Association Fee to be collected from all residential developments on certain parcels to be deposited into a special account in the Hawaii Community Development Revolving Fund to fund various services and projects in the Kakaako Makai area.
Amends the definition of "eligible business activity" for enterprise zone program purposes to include retail sales of tangible personal property manufactured and sold in the enterprise zone that is to be used or consumed by the purchaser and not for resale, the processing of value-added agricultural products grown within an enterprise zone, and the provision of professional services by health care professionals in health care related sectors.
