Establishes the Emergency Home Loan Assistance Revolving Fund to be administered by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation. Establishes terms for loans issued from the Revolving Fund. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.
Requires the Department of Education to administer a general dyslexia screening to all students in kindergarten through grade three. Requires the Department of Education to continue to administer the general English language arts universal screening for students in kindergarten through grade nine. Requires the Department of Education to collaborate with teacher training programs to ensure prospective candidates are trained on literacy instruction, including evidence-based intervention, to support all students. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
Creates an expedited permitting process to authorize the destruction or control of feral pigs on privately owned land, if the feral pigs have caused or are likely to cause substantial damage to agricultural or aquacultural crops, indigenous plants or wildlife, or pose a threat to human health and safety.
Establishes the State's Hospital Price Transparency Act. Prohibits hospitals from taking certain debt collection actions against a patient if the hospital is not in compliance with hospital price transparency laws. Allows patients and patient guarantors to file suit against hospitals in violation. Requires hospitals to make public and post their Medicare reimbursement rates no later than 10/1/25 and deems violations as an unfair and deceptive act or practice. Requires the Department of Health to conduct performance assessments of hospitals for adherence to federal transparency rules annually and make a list of hospitals with poor performance available on its website no later than 2/1/2026. Requires the Department of Health to adopt rules.
Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish and administer a Biosecurity Fencing Cost-Sharing Program. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
Allows newly graduated high school students to be eligible for workers' compensation coverage during the summer following their high school graduation while participating in Department of Education-sponsored work-based learning programs. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
Maddy summarySB 954 allocates state funds for Hawaii's Department of Human Services to conduct a study on Medicaid home health service payment rates. The study will examine current rates paid to home health providers serving Medicaid patients in Hawaii. This research aims to inform future decisions about adjusting these rates. The bill is currently under review by the Health and Human Services committee.
Requires employers in the food service industry to allow their employees an unpaid rest period of 30 consecutive minutes for a certain number of consecutive hours of working time. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
Allows state projects to be exempt from county building permit requirements under certain conditions. Requires all exempted state projects to be included in a report that is regularly made available to the public. Allows state agencies that undertake projects to be dedicated to a county to prepare programmatic or project-specific agreements that establish requirements and standards for review and acceptance if the agency wants the project to be exempted. Allows state agencies that want to be exempted from county permitting processes to establish a cooperative working group. Requires cooperative working groups to submit an interim report to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2026. Effective 5/13/2040. (SD1)
Establishes the Shipping Container Inspection Program. Requires the Department of Law Enforcement to submit reports to the Legislature on implementation of the Shipping Container Inspection Program. Exempts employees of the Department of Transportation and DLE from personal liability under certain conditions. Requires any damages to container goods be borne by the State. Requires DLE and DOT to designate a site outside of the immediate port area to conduct inspections. Require the DLE to secure all illegal goods. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
