Sen. Glenn Wakai

Establishes the Office of the State Fire Marshal within the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to be headed by a State Fire Marshal. Exempts the State Fire Marshal from Civil Service Law. Requires the State Fire Council to establish the terms of employment for the State Fire Marshal and appoint the State Fire Marshal to serve for a term of five years. Requires the State Fire Council to report to the Legislature. Makes appropriations. (CD1)

Establishes a two-year program at the University of Hawaiʻi to develop a wildfire forecast system for the State using artificial intelligence. Makes an appropriation. (CD1)

Establishes the offense of charitable fraud during a state of emergency. Provides that a person commits charitable fraud during a state of emergency if that person, during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, performs certain deceptive acts or practices in connection with the solicitation of a contribution to assist persons affected by a disaster or emergency. (CD1)

Maddy summaryThis bill allows the State of Hawaiʻi to send and receive the Plant and Animal Declaration Form electronically instead of requiring paper copies. It directly affects travelers entering the state who must declare any plants or animals they are bringing with them. By digitizing this process, the law modernizes how the state collects information to prevent the introduction of invasive species. The change simplifies the entry procedure for visitors while maintaining the same regulatory requirements for declaring biological items.

Establishes a separate prohibition on driving motor vehicles with noisy mufflers on public highways in high density population areas. Establishes separate fines for violations of motor scooter and motor vehicle muffler laws. Defines "high density population areas". (CD1)

Establishes a commercial drivers workforce working group within the Department of Transportation to address the workforce shortage of commercial drivers in the State. Requires a report to the Legislature. (CD1)

Requires the Technology Services Consolidation Working Group to assist the Office of Enterprise Technology Services in working with certain state agencies to inventory and categorize the business criticality of each major state information technology system or data set and determine the appropriate data center or hosting facility requirements. Requires a report to the Legislature. Extends the working group's dissolution date to 6/30/2026. (CD1)

Requires all public charter schools that exclusively offer prekindergarten programs to adhere to the public charter school law, with certain exceptions. (CD1)

Establishes a harm to students registry, for all early learning programs or schools and K-12 educational institutions within the State, that contains information on school employees, contractors, or volunteers for whom, as result of an investigation, a final finding has been issued that the individual has inflicted harm on a student. (CD1)

Removes the salary cap of the Superintendent of Education. Makes permanent the annual performance evaluation requirements for the Superintendent of Education. Takes effect 6/29/2024. (CD1)