Sen. Angus McKelvey

Establishes the Veterinarian Workforce Development Special Fund. Establishes the Veterinarian Workforce Development Fee to support recruitment and retention of veterinarians in the State. Establishes the Veterinarian Workforce Development Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program to support qualified veterinarians committed to or currently working in veterinary medicine in the State. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Provides the amount of recovery for tenants who prevail in civil suits for a landlord's violation of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code concerning a dwelling unit within an area that was a federally declared disaster area as of 8/8/2023. Provides for reasonable attorneys' fees and recovery for the cost of the suit. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Maddy summarySB 1539 allocates state funds to reduce the existing debt for the Waiahole Water System, directly benefiting this water utility. The bill provides specific financial resources to offset the system's outstanding obligations, with the provisions taking effect on July 1, 2050. This appropriation is the key mechanism, changing the system's debt burden without altering water rates or service terms. The measure is a straightforward funding action, not a policy change affecting broader regulations or public programs.

Establishes Braille literacy as a policy of the State. Requires literacy assessments for eligible low vision and blind students to include Braille instruction and the use of Braille. Authorizes the Department of Education to adopt administrative rules. Establishes the Braille Literacy Resource Center. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Creates a framework for the licensure of rural emergency hospitals by the Department of Health. Provides for the continuation of Medicaid policy protections for hospitals transitioning to a rural emergency hospital designation.

Establishes a public trust purpose for the Commission on Water Resource Management. Allows the Commission on Water Resource Management to retain independent counsel. Repeals the First Deputy to the Chairperson of the Commission on Water Resource Management. Establishes the Executive Director of the Commission on Water Resource Management. Administratively attaches the Commission on Water Resource Management to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Authorizes members of the Commission on Water Resource Management to be eligible to serve as chairperson. Requires the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Director of Health to serve as ex officio voting members ineligible to serve as chairperson. Authorizes entities to whom an emergency order is directed to challenge the order under certain conditions. Clarifies the notification requirements and contents of declarations of water shortages. Establishes fines. Makes conforming amendments. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Authorizes physicians to practice at organized ambulatory health care facilities even if the physician does not have hospital privileges at a licensed hospital in the same geographic location as the ambulatory facility. Provides that a written transfer agreement is not required to transfer a patient from an organized ambulatory health care facility to a licensed hospital.

Requires the Department of Health, to the extent allowable under federal law, to prioritize the use of Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund moneys for projects by homeowners to upgrade cesspools to director-approved wastewater systems or connect homeowners' properties to sewerage systems, including projects for the installation of cluster systems or community package plants. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

Establishes a Desalination Planning Task Force to examine the feasibility of, and develop a plan and timeline for, the use desalination as a source of potable water in the State. (SD1)

Requires any appointment of a person by the Governor to serve in the Executive Branch in the position of an advisor to be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate if that person's salary is greater than $200,000, and is not paid from the Governor's budget. Requires the Governor to transmit Governor's Messages to the Senate President containing nominations for each gubernatorial appointee who was appointed to their advisor position before the effective date of this Act and whose salary is greater than $200,000, and is not paid from the Governor's budget. Effective 1/1/2491. (SD1)