STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1180-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2333

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2333, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Transportation to establish and maintain airport special district zones within airports statewide.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines; Airlines for America; Airlines Committee of Hawaii; Blind Vendors Ohana; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that in recent years, the majority of airport-related incidents have involved trespassing, theft, assault, public lewdness, and property damage. The absence of meaningful criminal penalties limits the State's ability to address repeat offenders and habitual property crimes. This measure authorizes the Department of Transportation to define boundaries, clarify authorized activities, and prohibit conduct that interferes with airport operations, thereby equipping the State with the authority necessary to keep airports safe and secure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Renaming the areas as airport special districts, rather than airport special district zones;

(2) Clarifying the unlawful conduct within an airport special district to be any violation of certain aeronautics laws or the rules adopted or orders issued thereunder, rather than enumerating various conduct;

(3) Clarifying the specific rulemaking required under this measure;

(4) Deleting the categories of persons that were exempt from the requirements of the measure;

(5) Specifying that the boundaries of the airport special districts are to be identified in airport layout plans submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration;

(6) Increasing penalties for certain aeronautics law violations by reclassifying them from civil violations to petty misdemeanors; and

(7) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2333, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2333, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair