The Joint House and Senate Conference Committee approved Senate Bill 10-44 (Senate Draft 2, House Draft 2) on April 25, 2025, in Conference Room 224 by a voice vote, adopting amendments that include multiple multimillion-dollar appropriations to support a property-insurance stabilization program.

Committee members passed amendments that, as described on the record, include a $30,000,000 reimbursable general-obligation bond appropriation to the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) to support a loan facilitated by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Insurance Division to the Hawaii Property Insurance Association (HPIA); a $20,000,000 reimbursable general-obligation bond appropriation to the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) to facilitate a condominium loan program; and a $5,000,000 transfer from the HHRF to HGIA to serve as gap reserves for that loan program. The committee also inserted 36-month assessment periods for provisions affecting HHRF and HPIA and set a temporary recording fee “up to $44” subject to Insurance Commissioner approval.

Why it matters: the appropriations and program language are intended to create financing and reserve capacity to support new insurance programs and condominium financing tools described in the bill. Committee discussion noted the appropriations are reimbursable general-obligation bonds and that a $100,000 study item in earlier drafts was already accounted for.

Committee action and next steps: Members voting in favor on the Senate side included the Senate conference chair (recorded as voting “aye”), Co-Chair Moriwaki (aye), Senator Fukunaga (aye) and Senator McKelvey (aye); Senator Awa was recorded as excused. On the House side, Chair Matayoshi voted aye; Co-Chair Yamashita, Representative Chun, Representative Tam and Representative Peirce voted aye. The committee recorded the measure as passed with amendments. The transcript does not specify subsequent procedural steps or an enrollment timeline.

Discussion versus decision: the transcript records a brief explanatory presentation of the key amendments by the member speaking for the committee, who summarized the three major appropriations, the 36-month assessment insertion, and the temporary recording fee provision. The committee then moved to and took a recorded vote approving the measure with amendments. The transcript does not record any formal motions to change the appropriations amounts or conditions beyond those described on the record.

Implementation and dependencies: the measure, as amended on the record, depends on (1) the issuance and structure of reimbursable general-obligation bonds, (2) DCCA Insurance Division actions to facilitate loans to HPIA, and (3) HGIA administration of a condominium loan program that would use gap reserves. The temporary recording fee is subject to insurance-commission approval as stated on the record.

Limitations of the record: the committee discussion did not include full statutory text on assessment mechanics, the precise legal mechanism for the ‘‘up to $44’’ recording fee, or a detailed disbursement schedule for the appropriations; those details are not specified in the transcript and are therefore not reported here.

Ending: The committee approved SB 10-44 with the amendments described on the record and adjourned. The transcript does not specify further scheduling for final enrollment or floor action.