STAND. COM. REP. NO. 252-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2140

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Economic Development & Technology, to which was referred H.B. No. 2140 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ESSENTIAL PERMITTING POSITIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize counties to implement a pilot program to improve the speed, accountability, and quality of the permit process through targeted staffing, performance incentives, and interdepartmental competition.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Maui Chamber of Commerce; Housing Hawaiʻi's Future; and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; Department of Planning and Permitting, City and County of Honolulu; Department of Human Resources, City and County of Honolulu; Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, City and County of Honolulu; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State's permitting process is a source of frustration for residents, developers, and government agencies and is prone to delays. Your Committee further finds that maintaining a stable workforce of permitting agency employees is vital to ensure the effectiveness of the permitting process. Your Committee also finds that the Department of Education and the Governor's Operation Hire Hawaii initiative have addressed personnel challenges across state agencies through a models that include offering differential pay and promoting expedited hiring and workforce equity. This measure seeks to build on those successes by empowering the counties to streamline their own permitting operations through the use of targeted staffing, performance incentives, and interdepartmental competition.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development & Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2140, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2140, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development & Technology,

____________________________

GREGGOR ILAGAN, Chair