Sen. Carol Fukunaga

Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to establish three additional permanent mental health practitioner positions within the Division of Student Success' Counseling and Student Development Center.

Prohibits the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility on land that is near or above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department of Health. Reduces the required buffer zone around waste or disposal facilities.

Maddy summarySB 1196 establishes a fee on ridesharing services (like Uber or Lyft) within the state. The funds collected from this fee are required to be deposited into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund. This program supports concrete infrastructure improvements, such as safer crosswalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian pathways near schools. The bill directly affects ridesharing companies operating in the state and benefits students and communities by funding school safety infrastructure.

Requires counties to commission a comprehensive economic impact analysis before issuing tax increment bonds and make the analysis publicly available. Requires counties issuing tax increment bonds to conduct publicly available biennial independent audits and report to the Legislature. Requires counties issuing tax increment bonds to establish a review board to oversee tax increment bond projects. Restricts the amount of total outstanding tax increment bonds that may be excluded from the calculation of a county's debt limits from exceeding twenty per cent. Conforms county debt limit statements law to exclude tax increment bonds from the debt limit of the counties if a constitutional amendment authorizing the use of tax increment bonds and excluding tax increment bonds from determinations of the counties' funded debt is ratified.

Requires any hospital with an operating room licensed by the Department of Health to adopt and implement policies to prevent exposure to surgical smoke.

Requires corporations, organizations, or individuals engaging to commercial transactions or trade practices to clearly and conspicuously notify consumers when the consumer is interacting with an artificial intelligence chatbot or other technology capable of mimicking human behaviors. Authorizes private rights of action. Establishes statutory penalties.

Appropriates funds to the Department of Education to support public schools impacted by a local investor‑owned electric utility's planned public safety power shutoff program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Establishes as a class B felony the unlicensed performance of contractor work, during or within 5 years following a national emergency, state of emergency, or disaster proclamation, in an affected political subdivision. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Expands the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment Relations Act to include independent contractors and all individuals subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Maddy summarySB 391 establishes a working group to develop a management plan for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (used in devices like phones and electric vehicles), directly affecting battery recyclers, manufacturers, and waste management entities. The working group will create a report for the Legislature by January 2026, outlining strategies for safe collection, recycling, and disposal of these batteries. The bill does not impose new regulations but sets up a process to address growing battery waste challenges. It is currently pending committee review and has not yet become law. The effective date (1/1/2026) applies to the report submission, not the bill's implementation.