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Joint House–Senate conference committees adopt several CDs, roll over others to April 25
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Summary
Conference committees met April 24 in Room 16 at the Hawaii State Capitol, adopting conference drafts for several bills (including measures on qualified community rehab programs, public-employment cost items and wage-and-hour enforcement) and rolling multiple other measures to April 25 while awaiting financial releases or updated CDs.
Conference committees of the Hawaii Legislature met Thursday, April 24, in Conference Room 16 and recorded votes adopting conference drafts (CDs) on multiple measures while postponing others pending financial clearances and updated language.
The committees approved conference drafts on a mix of employment, procurement and wage-enforcement bills and formally recorded outcomes on several measures. Committee leaders repeatedly paused or recessed to await finance or WAM (Ways and Means) releases and to obtain absent conferees, then scheduled follow-up sessions for April 25.
The votes finalized or advanced bills that conferees described on the floor, including a limit on aggregated personal service contracts with qualified community rehabilitation programs, several collective‑bargaining cost‑item appropriations, and a wage‑and‑hour enforcement bill that creates an order process and penalties by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Conferees also adopted CDs on multiple bills presented as “clean” or with technical amendments. Where a conferee explicitly recorded a “no” vote, the transcript shows that dissent alongside the adopted outcome.
Votes at a glance
- HB 159 HD1 SD1 (qualified community rehabilitation programs): Adopted as CD 1. House conferees recorded aye votes from Rep. Lee and Rep. Reza; on the Senate side Chair Aquino and Senator Hashimoto voted aye and Senator Fevella recorded a “no.” The transcript records the conferees concluding “we have a bill.”
- HB 1031 HD1 SD1 (public employment cost items—appropriation): Adopted as CD 1 with FIN/WAM release reported. House and Senate conferees recorded aye votes and the committees declared “we have a bill.” (Transcript lists several conferee ayes by name.)
- HB 1033 HD1 SD1 (public employment cost items—appropriation): Adopted as CD 1 with FIN/WAM release reported. The House read the FY26 appropriation total of $17,985,152 aloud; Senate conferees voted and the committees recorded passage.
- HB 162 HD2 SD1 (collective bargaining; arbitration panel): Adopted as CD 1. The bill authorizes the Hawaii Labor Relations Board to request a list of interest arbitrators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in certain circumstances. House and Senate conferees recorded aye votes and the committee recorded “we have a bill.”
- SB 1454 SD1 HD2 (wage-and-hour enforcement): Recommendation adopted to pass as a CD. The conference draft instructs the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to issue orders for wage-payment violations, establishes penalties and appeals procedures, and amends the statutory definition of “wage.” The transcript records the recommendation adopted on both the Senate and House conferee panels.
Other items and scheduling
- Several measures were rolled over to Friday, April 25, at 10:15 a.m. in Conference Room 16 while conferees awaited final FIN/WAM releases, updated CDs, or absent WAM designees. Examples include HB 1424 (appropriations), HB 430 (internships), multiple workers’ compensation bills (HB 423, HB 480), data‑sharing bills (SB 742, SB 1491) and a number of administrative and collective‑bargaining items.
- Some bills were explicitly deferred for further study rather than immediately advanced. For example, conferees agreed to defer discussion of HB 202 (adequate reserve fund) citing fiscal uncertainty and the need for additional review.
What conferees said
Conferees repeatedly cited the need for FIN/WAM release or a WAM designee before finalizing measures that have budgetary impact. When agreement on language existed but the money release had not, conferees routinely scheduled follow‑up meetings for the next day. On the wage-and-hour measure, the chair read the bill description into the record before the panels voted to adopt the CD.
Ending
Conference chairs closed the April 24 session after recording the adopted CDs and scheduling a slate of rollover sessions for April 25. The committees said they would circulate updated conference drafts and the finalized financial releases ahead of reconvening.
