Sen. Michelle Kidani

Requires health care providers using artificial intelligence (AI) in patient interactions to disclose to the patient that the patient is interacting with artificial intelligence. Requires health care providers using AI in making consequential decisions relating to the patient to provide certain notice and statements to the patient; maintain a qualified AI oversight personnel who shall be a natural person that reviews, evaluates, and validates or overrides AI outputs; monitor and conduct regular performance evaluations of their AI systems; implement procedures to address identified deficiencies; and maintain certain records. Requires the Department of Health to adopt rules. Implementation effective 7/1/2028. Effective 1/30/2050. (SD1)

Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board within the Department of Health to conduct affordability reviews on high-cost prescription drugs and establish upper payment limits under certain circumstances. Establishes out-of-pocket maximums for prescribed insulin, asthma inhalers, and epinephrine auto-injectors. Prohibits copayment adjustment programs. Requires health insurers, mutual benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations to comply with certain affordability measures. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Requires adoption of rules by the Affordability Board and Insurance Commissioner. Appropriates funds.

Appropriates funds to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division of the Department of Health to contract with community-based organizations for a behavioral health complex patient model. Requires a report to the Legislature. (SD1)

Exempts from the certificate of need requirements certain health care facilities and services that provide certain health care services, serve federally designated medically underserved rural areas, lower patient costs, are unlikely to be overprescribed, and assist certain vulnerable populations. (SD1)

Renames the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism as the Department of Housing, Economic Development, and Tourism. Effective 7/1/2060. (SD1)

Requires certain government entities in the State that issue building permits to establish a self-certification process for behind-the-meter, customer-sited solar distributed energy resource systems that deems permit applications approved and allows applicants to proceed to build solar distributed energy resource system immediately. Requires certain government entities in the State that issue building permits to develop guidance for determining specific conditions when a Federal Emergency Management Agency-mandated No-Rise Certification is not required for a solar distributed energy resource system located in a regulatory floodway. Effective 4/19/2042. (SD1)

Transfers functions relating to the preparation and implementation of destination management action plans from the Hawaii Tourism Authority to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Appropriates moneys to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to develop and implement destination management action plans. Appropriates moneys to the Department of Education's Workforce Development Branch for various destination management-related workforce development activities.

Prohibits homeowners insurance policies from limiting or denying payment of replacement costs, extended replacement costs, or building code upgrade costs for a dwelling solely because the insured elects to rebuild the dwelling at a different location or purchase an already-constructed home at a different location. Allows for the combination of dwelling and other structures coverage limits to fund the rebuilding or replacement of the primary residence under certain conditions. Requires notice to policyholders.

Maddy summarySB 1654 authorizes state agencies to transfer specific parcels of land to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). This directly affects DHHL, which manages land for Native Hawaiian homesteaders. The bill's key provision is granting formal permission for these land transfers to occur under existing state authority. The change would expand DHHL's land holdings without requiring new funding or altering existing land management rules.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR 3) requests Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) to study whether using mezzanine loans could help increase housing production in the state. Mezzanine loans are a financing tool that could allow housing developers to secure funding with less required equity, potentially lowering costs and accelerating project timelines. The study aims to evaluate if this approach could address Hawaii's severe housing shortage and improve the efficiency of state housing funds. DBEDT must submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature by early 2027. (Note: This is a study request, not a law implementing mezzanine loans.)