The House Committee on Transportation advanced SB 2747 SD2 on March 14 after receiving testimony from helicopter operators and aviation insurers about safety incentives and cost impacts.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters testified in support, saying higher liability limits would encourage carriers to maintain greater safety practices. Melissa Pavlicek of Blue Hawaiian told the committee her company already carries $50 million per‑occurrence limits and that raising the minimum could incentivize other operators to seek higher coverage. Witnesses noted that existing minimums in Hawaii are low compared with some U.S. airports — for example, McCarran Airport in Las Vegas maintains a $20 million minimum in one example offered by a witness — and the bill’s drafters suggested tying Hawaii minimums to a percentage of the U.S. international airport requirement to keep the threshold in line with national norms.

Other operators raised concerns about cost impacts and sought clarity about which airports and operations would be affected, particularly whether the bill would apply uniformly across all state airports or be tied to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport standards. The committee asked DOT and the airport community to provide exact current minimum levels; DOT did not provide a precise figure at hearing and committee members noted uncertainty (one witness estimated a $1 million current requirement but deferred to DOT for confirmation).

The committee set a defective/placeholder effective date of 07/01/3000 and approved technical amendments; members said they favored tying coverage to a percentage to allow the minimum to scale relative to national standards while directing staff to gather exact current‑requirement figures before finalization.

Ending: SB 2747 SD2 passed with amendments; committee directed staff and DOT to clarify current airport minimums and to refine the percentage‑based approach in subsequent drafts.