STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3099

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2151

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2151, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Clarify state and local authority during a state or local state of emergency;

(2) Define "severe weather warning";

(3) Amend the definitions of "disaster" and "emergency" to limit the use of emergency powers except to address sudden events that cause or are likely to cause catastrophic harm or immediate danger; and

(4) Allow the Legislature to terminate a state of emergency and county councils to terminate a local state of emergency.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Earthjustice, Libertarian Party of Hawaii, Public First Law Center, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and three individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from eighty-eight individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices, Hawaiian Islands Republican Women, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that existing law does not provide clear guardrails on the use of emergency powers by the Governor and mayors during a state of emergency. This measure will establish guardrails on the use of emergency powers to ensure the constitutional balance of powers and mitigate executive overreach.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have amended the definitions of "disaster" and "emergency";

(2) Inserting an effective date of March 22, 2075, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2151, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2151, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair