2025 Mid-Session Policy Update

We are at the halfway point in Hawaiʻi’s legislative process. On March 6, bills that passed their assigned committees and three floor readings in one chamber “crossed over” to the other chamber, where they will undergo additional public hearings. While some of our priorities have missed their mandatory deadlines for this year, many key bills to strengthen public health are moving forward.

Tobacco Prevention & Control

Ending the sale of flavored tobacco is a top priority for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i (CTFH), as it has been in previous years. HB 756 would prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine products and nicotine product flavor enhancers. The proposal received broad support from public health experts, community members, and youth advocates, leading to its passage by the House on February 28. 

A proposal to restore the counties’ authority to regulate tobacco products, HB 380, was passed by the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection and the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. Unfortunately, the measure was not given a hearing in the House Finance Committee. A Senate vehicle for restoring the counties’ authority (SB 89) was not heard by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, the first committee to which it was referred. 

Yet, the passage of a measure to end the sale of flavored tobacco products remains a possibility for this session. Additionally, the Coalition is supporting efforts to increase the cigarette tax to reduce the harms of tobacco by preventing youth from starting and encouraging smokers to quit (HB 441). It passed the House on February 28 and is awaiting hearings in the Senate.  

Healthy Eating + Active Living

The statewide Healthy Eating + Active Living (HEAL) Coalition identified two primary priorities this session: establishing free school meals for all public school students and improving pedestrian safety through the implementation of a “Freedom to Walk” policy and additional funding for the Safe Routes to School Program. 

A bill to institute free school meals, HB 757, was passed by the House Education Committee, but failed to receive a hearing in the House Finance Committee. SB 1300, a bill to fund free meals for students whose families fall under the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) population, has been adopted by the State Senate, providing a legislative vehicle to continue advocating for a comprehensive free school meals program.

Additionally, the HEAL Coalition supported proposals to prevent pedestrians from being stopped by a law enforcement officer, fined, or subjected to any penalty for jaywalking (unless there is an immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle). These proposals are part of a national “Freedom to Walk” movement to decriminalize jaywalking and remove legal barriers that discourage people from incorporating walking into their daily routines. Currently, SB 106 would authorize pedestrians to act contrary to the statewide traffic code when there is no immediate danger, but only if the pedestrian is more than 200 feet from a crosswalk. HEAL Coalition members will seek to broaden the applicability of this measure as it moves through the second half of the session, while also continuing to champion proposals to enhance resources for the Safe Routes to School Program, such as HB 1231. 

HEAL is also advocating for measures to improve staffing levels and efficiency in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As the legislative session began, SNAP offices remained significantly understaffed and overburdened, leading to long wait times for SNAP recipients who were trying to apply for or recertify their benefits.

SB 960 would appropriate funds to the Department of Human Services to improve SNAP staffing levels by authorizing differential pay increases and creating new positions. SB 961 would require the department to participate in the Elderly Simplified Application Project, extending the certification period for SNAP enrollees, and reduce recipients’ risk of losing benefits during the recertification process.

Finally, the HEAL Coalition supported paid family and medical leave (PFML) again this year. PFML would allow workers to take time off to care for medical emergencies, such as the birth of a child or long-term illness of an aging parent, while still receiving a portion of their income. HB 755 aimed to establish a paid family leave insurance program this year. While the proposal was approved by the House Labor Committee and the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, it was not given a hearing in the House Finance Committee. No family leave measures were advanced by the Senate this session (SB 852, SB 859), though a resolution requesting the creation of a paid family leave implementation working group will be introduced in both chambers of the Legislature.  

Oral Health

The Hawai‘i Oral Health Coalition (HOHC) is supporting the establishment of oral health staff within the Department of Health (DOH), which would provide the expertise necessary to improve oral health for all of our state’s residents. Funding for the state’s oral health program was cut in 2009, with limited funding available to sustain the Hospital and Community Dental Services Branch under the Developmental Disabilities Division. Moreover, Hawai‘i is not among the states that receive federal funding for oral health initiatives. Creating oral health positions at DOH would deliver targeted solutions for preventive dental care. Funding for these positions was included in the House draft of the state budget, as outlined in HB 300. 

Farm to School 

Raising the Department of Education’s (DOE) small purchase procurement threshold from $25,000 to $100,000 is a primary objective of the Hawai‘i Farm to School Network. Act 175 of 2021 set a goal of sourcing 30 percent of school food locally by 2030. In the 2023-2024 school year, however, only 5.43 percent of school food was locally sourced. Small purchase procurement offers a streamlined process for government agencies to acquire goods and services. Most state departments are capped at $100,000 for small purchase procurement exemptions. 

The DOE must abide by a lower threshold of $25,000, though, which hinders local food purchases and requires amounts exceeding this threshold to undergo competitive bidding and public advertising. Increasing the DOE’s small purchase procurement limit to $100,000 would eliminate this barrier. Multiple proposals remain alive to boost the department’s procurement threshold, including HB 1293 and SB 659, the latter of which would increase the threshold to $250,000. 

Alcohol Policy 

This year, the Hawai‘i Alcohol Policy Alliance (HIAPA) is continuing to champion proposals to lower the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for operating a vehicle from 0.08 to 0.05. Studies consistently show that drivers are significantly impaired at a 0.05 BAC, increasing the risk of a crash. SB 1285 passed the Senate and is awaiting hearings in the State House. HB 1387 did not receive a hearing in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee. A resolution is also being offered in the Senate urging the Department of Transportation to form a working group to evaluate the impact of lowering the BAC to 0.05. 

Climate Health and Resilience 

A new addition to HIPHI’s agenda, the Climate Change and Health Working Group, focused on several pieces of legislation intended to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s public health systems in response to climate change. The working group’s mission is to research and communicate the human health impacts of climate change and to advocate for policy solutions that prioritize Hawaiʻi’s most at-risk community members. For this year, top priorities for the group included addressing heat exposure for all school students (HB 245), investing in innovative wastewater technology solutions (SB 1232), and funding invasive species eradication (HB 299). HB 245 missed the crossover deadline, but the other bills are still alive. Moving forward, the working group will be championing a concurrent resolution to declare the climate crisis a public health emergency. The resolution also asks state agencies to evaluate the impact of climate change on public programs and services. 

What happens next?

Now that the remaining bills have passed through either the House or Senate, they must repeat the process and pass through the opposite chamber by April 4. Subsequently, the two chambers must reconcile any differences and finalize the language of the bills in a conference committee, a special group formed to resolve differences between the versions, before sending them to the governor for approval.

There is still time to make your voice heard. You can access our bill tracker to view the progress of key measures. You can also sign up for our action alerts to receive hearing notifications and talking points on important bills. Together, we can advance the public health and well-being of our island home.