KA ‘AHA KENEKOA
THE THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2026
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Senator Angus L.K. McKelvey, Chair |
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Senator Mike Gabbard, Vice Chair |
NOTICE OF HEARING
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DATE: |
Tuesday, February 3, 2026 |
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TIME: |
3:00 PM |
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PLACE: |
Conference Room 225 & Videoconference State Capitol 415 South Beretania Street |
PHOTO ID REQUIRED FOR ENTRANCE TO THE STATE CAPITOL
BUILDING HOURS: 7AM TO 5PM, MONDAY - FRIDAY
The Legislature is accepting written, videoconference, and in-person testimony at public hearings.
A live stream of all Senate Standing Committee meetings will be available on the Senate YouTube Channel.
A G E N D A
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RELATING TO STATE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. Establishes within the Department of Accounting and General Services the Office of the State Architect, directed by a State Architect appointed by the Governor. Requires the State Architect to organize, manage, and oversee the design review of all state construction projects and issue design approvals for traditional design-bid-build state construction projects. Requires an annual report to the Governor and Legislature. Authorizes the Department of Accounting and General Services to oversee design review services for state construction projects and issue certain design approvals through the State Architect. Appropriates moneys. Effective 7/1/2050.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS. Clarifies that records created, received, maintained, or used by private contractors performing government functions on behalf of public agencies shall be subject to the Uniform Information Practices Act.
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GVO, JDC |
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RELATING TO STATE BUILDING PROJECTS. Establishes the State Building Process Task Force to evaluate the challenges, opportunities, and legislative actions necessary to establish a state building permit review office for state projects located on state-owned lands. Appropriates funds.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY. Requires each purchasing agency to provide justification for hiring external consultants. Caps the amount each agency can spend on external consultants. Requires each agency to seek approval from the Legislature for consulting contracts exceeding a certain dollar amount. Requires each agency to disclose new contracts with external consultants. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Requires the Compliance Audit Unit within the Office of the Auditor to conduct regular audits of agency consultant contracts to assess cost-effectiveness and compliance. Establishes exceptions. Requires each chief procurement officer to ensure that inherent government functions are not delegated to a contractor.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO DUE PROCESS. Requires state agencies to provide an affected person with written notice containing certain information before taking final administrative actions that materially and adversely affect the person's protected liberty or property interest. Prohibits a state agency from implementing a final adverse action until the completion of any timely requested contested case proceeding unless the state agency makes certain written findings. Requires state agencies to take certain steps to ensure impartial decision-making. Requires each state agency to submit an annual report to the Legislature and make the report available on the agency's website. Requires a claim against the State for a violation of a procedural due process requirement to be satisfied from the operating budget of the state agency whose action or omission gave rise to the violation and not from the general fund. Clarifies that reporting of due process rights violations is protected under the State's Whistleblowers' Protection Act.
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GVO, JDC/WAM |
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RELATING TO BUDGET-RELATED REPORTS. Requires the Governor to ensure that the Governor's program memoranda and variance reports accurately reflect the current responsibilities of certain state programs, address the current and future needs of the State, and align with budget-related submittals.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO GUBERNATORIAL APPOINTMENTS. Requires any person appointed by the Governor to serve in the Executive Branch in a position that is not subject to the civil service law to obtain the advice and consent of the Senate if that person's salary is greater than $160,000 and is not paid from the budget of the Office of the Governor. Requires persons currently serving in positions made subject to the advice and consent of the Senate by this Act to obtain the advice and consent of the Senate during the Regular Session of 2027.
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GVO, JDC |
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RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE. Requires the Legislative Reference Bureau, in collaboration with the Department of Budget and Finance, to conduct a study on the costs, savings, and potential productivity changes of transitioning to a continuous legislative calendar. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO TREES. Requires the State or political subdivision to ensure and enforce that all arborists and other professionals managing trees or lands that will impact public trees in its employ, including contractors, adhere to best management practices.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO PUBLIC PROCUREMENT. Requires purchasing agencies to apply a local preference to Hawaii businesses in evaluating bids or proposals. Establishes criteria for a Hawaii business to qualify for a local preference. Establishes tiered local preference percentages to be applied based on bid price. Establishes procedures for contract awardees who fail to meet or maintain the preference criteria.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO PROCUREMENT. Increases the contract award value that triggers required proof of vendor compliance from $2,500 to $6,000.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO PROCUREMENT. Ensures that awarded contracts are supported by sufficient appropriations by requiring that the contract amount does not exceed 10% of the amount of the appropriation or balance of an appropriation that is available to cover the cost of the contract. Requires a contract that exceeds the 10% threshold to be approved by the chief procurement officer. Repeals criminal penalties in the Hawaii Public Procurement Code.
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GVO, WAM/JDC |
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RELATING TO NEIGHBORHOOD BOARDS. Establishes that when a neighborhood board of the City and County of Honolulu has a vacancy, a majority of all seats that are filled shall constitute quorum to conduct business and a majority vote of the members present at the board's meeting hall validate an act of the board as part of its official business.
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GVO, JDC |
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RELATING TO PUBLIC ACCESS. Establishes a Capitol Visitor Center within the State Capitol to be maintained and operated by the Legislative Reference Bureau. Requires the Joint Legislative Access Committee to review the operations of the Capitol Visitor Center and recommend policies to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Appropriates funds.
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GVO, WAM |
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RELATING TO PUBLIC MEETINGS. Requires certain information to appear at the beginning of notices for public meetings.
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GVO, JDC |
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RELATING TO PUBLIC MEETINGS. Defines "business day" as used in Part I of Chapter 92, HRS, governing public meetings. Clarifies that board packets, if created, shall be made available for public inspection in the board's office during regular business hours, no later than three full business days before the public meeting. Defines "regular business hours".
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GVO, JDC |
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RELATING TO LEI. Requires and establishes benchmarks for each state executive agency to ensure that a certain percentage of lei purchased by that executive agency consists of lei made entirely of natural objects and plant materials grown, harvested, and assembled in the State. Establishes labeling requirements for lei and lei materials.
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GVO, CPN/WAM |
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Decision Making to follow, if time permits.
All testimony received by the Hawai‘i Senate is posted on the Hawai‘i Legislature's website, which is accessible to the public. Please do not include private information that you do not want disclosed to the public.
Please go to the Legislature's website, https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov, to submit written testimony at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. Create a free account on the website, or sign in to an existing account, then click on the "Participate" drop down menu and select the "Submit Testimony" option to get started. While submitting your written testimony, you will be prompted to indicate if you would also like to testify at the hearing in-person or remotely via videoconference.
Please note the following:
· The number of oral testifiers and/or time allotted to each testifier may be limited by the Chair when necessary to adhere to the committee hearing schedule. We may not be able to accommodate everyone who requests to testify orally.
· Testifiers for this hearing will be limited to 2 minutes each.
If you wish to testify via videoconference during the hearing, please review the detailed step-by-step instructions for testimony procedures before you submit your written testimony. Here's a direct link to the instructions: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/docs/testimonyinstructions.pdf
For general help navigating the committee hearing process, please contact the Public Access Room at (808) 587-0478 or par@capitol.hawaii.gov. You can also visit their website at https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/.
For special assistance: The cable TV broadcast and/or live stream of this meeting will include closed captioning. If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to a disability, please call the committee clerk at the telephone number listed below or email GVOcommittee@capitol.hawaii.gov. Requests made as early as possible have a greater likelihood of being fulfilled.
For amended notices: Measures that have been deleted are stricken through and measures that have been added are underscored. If a measure is both underscored and stricken through, that measure has been deleted from the agenda.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL THE COMMITTEE CLERK AT 808-586-6070.
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_____________________________________ Senator Angus L.K. McKelvey Chair |
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