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Conference committee approves recount threshold change, fireworks and elections measures; many bills rolled for money-committee review
Summary
Joint House–Senate conferees on April 21 approved several conference drafts — including a change to recount triggers and fireworks- and elections-related bills — while deferring many appropriations and budget items for money-committee clearance and reconvening April 22.
Conferees from the House and Senate met in Conference Room 325 on April 21 to consider multiple conference drafts and release requests to Finance (FIN) and Ways and Means (WAM). The committee approved three notable conference drafts and scheduled reconvening for many others so money committees could clear appropriations and corrected language.
What passed: The committee voted to pass conference drafts for Senate Bill 176 (changing recount triggers), Senate Bill 222 (extending a fireworks-related task force and adding reporting requirements), and Senate Bill 1030 (clarifying election intimidation by including carrying dangerous instruments near polling locations). Each of those measures was agreed to as a conference draft (CD1) and the committee recorded aye votes from the managers present; one 'no vote' was recorded during the SB1030 count. For SB176 the committee stated the recount trigger will be the smaller of 100 votes or 0.5% of ballots cast, up from 0.25%.
What was deferred: Dozens of other measures — including budget and appropriation bills for the judiciary, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and settlement claims related to the Maui wildfires — were discussed but rolled to reconvene either later the same day or on April 22 so proposed CD1s could be finalized and requests for FIN/WAM release could be processed. Conferees repeatedly requested populated CD1s with dollar amounts, FTE counts and effective dates before money-committee release would be requested.
Process notes: Several items required only a clean effective date and money-committee sign-off; others needed corrected numeric details or populated staffing and appropriation lines before release. On multiple measures conferees explicitly asked for CD1s to be transmitted to the opposing side for review and indicated reconvening times and rooms (for example, many items were scheduled for April 22 at 2:05 PM or 3:30 PM in Room 325 or 309). The committee adjourned at the end of the afternoon session with those follow-ups scheduled.
