Bill Commons

HI SB 161

died on adjournment

RELATING TO COUNTY PERMITTING AND INSPECTION.

Hawaii · 2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did HI SB 161 pass?

No. HI SB 161 died when the 2026 Regular Session adjourned without final action on it. Bills that die this way are sometimes reintroduced in a later session. Latest recorded action (2025-12-08): Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

What is HI SB 161 about?

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)

Who sponsors HI SB 161?

CHANG, HASHIMOTO, RICHARDS and 1 others are the primary sponsors of HI SB 161, joined by 1 cosponsor.

Description

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)

Introduced
2025-01-15
Latest action
2025-12-08 — Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • CHANGprimary
  • HASHIMOTOprimary
  • RICHARDSprimary
  • SAN BUENAVENTURAprimary
  • Kanuhacosponsor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2025-12-08

    Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

    carried-over

  2. 2025-02-11

    Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

    passage,reading-2,referral-committee

  3. 2025-02-11

    Reported from EIG/GVO (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 220) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

  4. 2025-02-04

    The committee(s) on GVO recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in GVO were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) McKelvey, Moriwaki, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard, San Buenaventura.

    committee-passage-favorable

  5. 2025-02-04

    The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EIG were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, DeCoite, Richards, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

    committee-passage-favorable

  6. 2025-01-30

    The committee(s) on GVO deferred the measure until 02-04-25 3:00PM; CR 225.

    deferral

  7. 2025-01-30

    The committee(s) on EIG deferred the measure until 02-04-25 3:00PM; CR 016.

    deferral

  8. 2025-01-27

    The committee(s) on EIG/GVO has scheduled a public hearing on 01-30-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

  9. 2025-01-17

    Referred to EIG/GVO, WAM.

    referral-committee

  10. 2025-01-15

    Introduced and passed First Reading.

    introduction,reading-1

  11. 2025-01-13

    Pending Introduction.

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.

    2025-02-04 · pass · 5-0

    Member-level votes (5)
    • Wakai: yes
    • Chang: yes
    • DeCoite: yes
    • Richards: yes
    • Fevella: yes

  • The committee(s) on GVO recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.

    2025-02-04 · pass · 3-0

    Member-level votes (5)
    • McKelvey: yes
    • Moriwaki: yes
    • Fevella: yes
    • Gabbard: not voting
    • San Buenaventura: not voting

Related bills

Official source

https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=161&year=2026

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:20:09.051962Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=HI&identifier=SB 161. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

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