CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 22-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 3131

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir and Madam:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 3131, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PERSONNEL,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to update state position titles in the Hawaii Revised Statutes by changing "private secretary" to "executive assistant" and "secretary" to "administrative assistant", where applicable.

Your Committee on Conference finds that following the Department of Human Resources Development's 2024 modernization of civil service position titles, which renamed the secretary series to be the administrative assistant series, statutory language has yet to be amended to reflect this change. This measure promotes more effective governance by ensuring consistency and clarity across state titles, aligning state employment practices with prevailing standards, and supporting the recruitment and retention of qualified employees.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2026.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3131, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3131, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ MIKE LEE Chair	____________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE Chair
	____________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY Co-Chair
	____________________________ KARL RHOADS Co-Chair