2024 Legislative Highlights

In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that destroyed Lahaina in August 2023, the Regular Session of 2024 began in a state of uncertainty. Although the House of Representatives convened several interim working groups to work with members of the Lahaina community to address immediate issues and develop recommendations for critical social, environmental, and economic issues such as schools, environmental remediation, and jobs and businesses, it was unclear if the State had the fiscal means to pass the legislative recommendations of the interim working groups and still address broader issues of the State. Recognizing that some issues facing the residents of Lahaina also impacted other communities of the State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives in his Opening Day remarks reiterated that the House of Representatives was committed to taking a proactive approach that focused on enacting policies centered on values that make sense for the State’s island communities and acting as stewards of the public trust.

Over the course of four months, the Legislature worked cooperatively to introduce, hear, and pass measures that address many pressing issues and needs of the State. These issues included addressing the recovery and rebuilding of Lahaina and Maui, ensuring the State was prepared for future disasters arising from the impacts of climate change, providing tax relief to the State’s asset limited, income constrained, employed (ALICE) families, expanding services for mental health care, and addressing the State’s housing crisis, including restraint on the proliferation of short-term rentals. In addition to bills carried over from the prior legislative session, the House of Representatives alone introduced 1,293 House Bills, 226 House Concurrent Resolutions, and 227 House Resolutions for consideration. By the time the Legislature adjourned Sine Die on May 3, 2024, it had passed 262 bills focused on various matters impacting the State, including the following noteworthy achievements:

  • Appropriating over $1 billion to support the State’s response to the August 2023 Maui wildfires, including:
    • $362,000,000 as an emergency appropriation for fiscal year 2023-2024 to address costs related to the provision of food, housing, compensation, or other assistance to individuals affected by the Maui wildfires; and
    • $447,159,926 out of a combination of general revenues and assorted special funds for fiscal year 2024-2025 to provide ongoing wildfire relief, recovery, management, and prevention;
  • Enhancing the State’s fight against invasive species by appropriating $19,780,660 to the Department of Agriculture for programs and positions for the Department’s biosecurity program;
  • Supporting Hawaii’s coffee farmers by requiring coffee products to be at least 51 percent coffee by weight from coffee grown in Hawaii before they can be labeled or advertised as originating in Hawaii;
  • Providing a historic level of tax relief to the State’s working families by increasing the standard deduction amounts for each filing status for taxable years 2024, 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2031, and amending the income tax brackets to widen the applicability of lower tax rates to the taxable income of each filing status for taxable years 2025, 2027, and 2029;
  • Establishing a Business Revitalization Task Force within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to improve the State’s general economic competitiveness and business climate;
  • Responding to the demand for increased Hawaiian language immersion education by appropriating $3,544,683 and 13 positions for the Department of Education’s Kaiapuni education programs;
  • Establishing the Solar Hui Program to allow financing for installation of solar rooftop by low- and middle-income families in a multi-family residential property;
  • Exempting from the general excise tax health care goods and services provided to patients who receive Medicaid, Medicare, or TRICARE benefits;
  • Authorizing the counties to amortize or phase out certain short-term rentals;
  • Increasing the monthly personal needs allowance for individuals living in certain long-term care facilities;
  • Proposing a constitutional amendment enshrining marriage equality in the State;
  • Establishing an Office of the Fire Marshal and appropriating funds for a State Fire Marshal and support positions; and
  • Increasing the penalty for a third or subsequent offense involving the unauthorized driving or operation of a motor vehicle to a class C felony.

Despite the uncertainty with which it began, the Regular Session of 2024 ended with a fulfillment of the Legislature’s commitment to enacting changes centered on the present and future well-being of the people of Hawaii. The historic legislation passed during the Regular Session of 2024 will undoubtedly serve as a strong foundation for the House of Representatives to continue to move forward as faithful stewards of the State and our lands, willing and able to address whatever new challenges the future may hold.