Bill Commons

HI SB 5

died on adjournment

RELATING TO LEGISLATIVE VACANCIES.

Hawaii · 2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did HI SB 5 pass?

No. HI SB 5 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 5 about?

Establishes that if a state legislative vacancy occurs due to the death or permanent incapacitation of the prior incumbent before a primary election, but after the close of filing for that election, and the prior incumbent was the only person whose name appeared on any ballot for that seat for that election, the Governor's appointment of a replacement shall be valid for both the unexpired term and the next succeeding term. Effective 1/1/2525. (SD1)

Who sponsors HI SB 5?

INOUYE, CHANG, FUKUNAGA and 3 others are the primary sponsors of HI SB 5.

Description

Establishes that if a state legislative vacancy occurs due to the death or permanent incapacitation of the prior incumbent before a primary election, but after the close of filing for that election, and the prior incumbent was the only person whose name appeared on any ballot for that seat for that election, the Governor's appointment of a replacement shall be valid for both the unexpired term and the next succeeding term. Effective 1/1/2525. (SD1)

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

Subjects

Sponsors

  • INOUYEprimary
  • CHANGprimary
  • FUKUNAGAprimary
  • HASHIMOTOprimary
  • MCKELVEYprimary
  • RHOADSprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2025-12-08

    Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

    carried-over

  2. 2025-03-19

    The committee(s) on LMG recommend(s) that the measure be deferred.

    deferral

  3. 2025-03-17

    Bill scheduled to be heard by LMG on Wednesday, 03-19-25 2:45PM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  4. 2025-03-06

    Referred to LMG, JHA, referral sheet 19

    referral-committee

  5. 2025-03-06

    Pass First Reading

    reading-1

  6. 2025-03-04

    Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 62) in amended form (SD 1).

    introduction,receipt

  7. 2025-03-04

    Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 2 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

    passage

  8. 2025-02-28

    One Day Notice 03-04-25.

  9. 2025-02-28

    Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 950) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading.

  10. 2025-02-21

    The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.

    committee-passage-favorable

  11. 2025-02-18

    The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-21-25 10:20AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

  12. 2025-02-10

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

    passage,reading-2,referral-committee

  13. 2025-02-10

    Reported from GVO (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 182) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.

  14. 2025-01-30

    The committee(s) on GVO recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in GVO were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) McKelvey, Gabbard, Moriwaki, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

    committee-passage-favorable

  15. 2025-01-28

    The committee(s) on GVO deferred the measure until 01-30-25 3:01PM; Conference Room 225.

    deferral

  16. 2025-01-24

    The committee(s) on GVO has scheduled a public hearing on 01-28-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

  17. 2025-01-16

    Referred to GVO, JDC.

    referral-committee

  18. 2025-01-15

    Introduced and passed First Reading.

    introduction,reading-1

  19. 2025-01-08

    Pending Introduction.

Versions

Documents

Votes

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

    2025-01-30 · pass · 4-0

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

  • The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED.

    2025-02-21 · pass · 3-1

    Member-level votes (5)
    • Rhoads: yes
    • Chang: yes
    • San Buenaventura: yes
    • Awa: no
    • Gabbard: not voting

  • Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading.

    2025-03-04 · pass · 23-2

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=5&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 5. 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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