HB2437 • 2026

RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION.

Budget Education

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: KAPELA, AMATO, BELATTI, GARRETT, GRANDINETTI, HARTSFIELD, KEOHOKAPU-LEE LOY, KILA, LOWEN, MARTEN, MIYAKE, PERRUSO, POEPOE, REYES ODA, TAKAYAMA
Last action: 2026-03-30
Official status: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION.
Arts Education; Artists in the Schools Program; State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; Appropriation ($) Appropriates funds to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for the Artists in the Schools Program.
Effective 1/1/3000.
(SD1)

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: HB2437 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2437 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2437 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION .

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: HB2437 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2437 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2437 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII S.D.

Bill History

2026-05-27 H
Pending introduction.
2026-03-30 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
2026-03-30 S
Reported from WLA/EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3367) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
2026-03-25 S
The committee(s) on WLA recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WLA were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Lee, C., Lamosao, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Inouye, Chang.
2026-03-25 S
The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.
2026-03-20 S
The committee(s) on WLA/EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:11PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to WLA/EDU, WAM.
2026-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 107).
2026-03-05 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-05 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 766-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-02-26 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
2026-02-24 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 02-26-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-12 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).
2026-02-12 H
Reported from CAA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 248-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
2026-02-06 H
The committee on CAA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Kapela, Kong, Garrett, Lee, M.; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama, Reyes Oda.
2026-02-03 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by CAA on Friday, 02-06-26 9:30AM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-02 H
Referred to CAA, FIN, referral sheet 6
2026-01-28 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO ARTS EDUCATION.
Arts Education; Artists in the Schools Program; State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; Appropriation ($)
Appropriates funds to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for the Artists in the Schools Program. Effective 1/1/3000. (SD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB2437

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2437

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to artS education
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that access to
high-quality arts education supports student engagement, academic success, and
whole-child development.
�
The legislature
further finds that the state foundation on culture and the arts' artists in the
schools program provides meaningful arts learning experiences by embedding
professional artists in classrooms to serve students across the public and
public charter school system.

����
The artists
in the schools program directly aligns with the state foundation on culture and
the arts' mission to foster cultural literacy and community engagement by
delivering high-quality arts education to underserved students.
�
By embedding professional artists in
classrooms, the program supports the development of critical twenty-first
century skills, including creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration,
that are essential for future workforce success and engaged citizenship.

����
Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the state foundation on
culture and the arts to fund the artists in the schools program.

����
SECTION
2.
�
There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $220,000 or so much thereof
as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 to fund the artists in the
schools program.

����
The sum
appropriated shall be expended by the state foundation on culture and the arts for
the purposes of this Act.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Arts
Education; Artists in the Schools; State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates
funds to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for the Artists in the
Schools program.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.