HB2581 • 2026

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Budget

Active

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

Sponsor: POEPOE
Last action: 2026-05-01
Official status: Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:51 PM; Conference Room 016.
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 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
HIEMA; Emergency Management; Emergency Powers; Disasters; Emergencies; Hawaii Community Resilience Hub Program; Preparedness; Reports; Appropriation ($) Clarifies the types of events that constitute disasters and emergencies for the purposes of emergency management.
Establishes the Hawaii Community Resilience Hub Program within the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to support the development of community-based resilience hubs across the State and leverage federal, philanthropic, and private-sector funding for disaster preparedness and climate resilience.
Requires the Agency to identify locations on each island that can be used as state disaster response and mitigation hubs when a state of emergency is declared.

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: HB2581 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2581 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2581 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT .

HD2

Hawaii published version HD2

Plain English: HB2581 HD2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2581 HD2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2581 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
2 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT .

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: HB2581 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2581 SD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2581 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
2 STATE OF HAWAII S.D.

SD1_PROPOSED

Hawaii published version SD1_PROPOSED

Plain English: 2026-1836 HB2581 SD1 SMA.

2026-1836 HB2581 SD1 SMA.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2581 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.

SD2

Hawaii published version SD2

Plain English: HB2581 SD2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2581 SD2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2581 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
2 STATE OF HAWAII S.D.

Bill History

2026-05-01 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:51 PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-05-01 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-05-01 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:10 PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-05-01 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 4:30 PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-05-01 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 3:30 PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-04-30 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 1:45PM; Conference Room 016.
2026-04-29 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 3:00PM; CR 016.
2026-04-28 H
Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 786).
2026-04-28 H
Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Wednesday, 04-29-26 3:05PM in conference room 016.
2026-04-28 S
Senate Conferees Appointed: Fukunaga Chair; DeCoite Co-Chair; Inouye, DeCorte.
2026-04-28 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 871).
2026-04-27 H
House Conferees Appointed: Belatti, Tarnas, Morikawa Co-Chairs; Shimizu.
2026-04-17 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 780).
2026-04-16 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2026-04-14 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 705) in amended form (SD 2).
2026-04-14 S
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2026-04-09 S
48 Hrs. Notice 04-14-26.
2026-04-09 S
Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3674) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
2026-04-06 S
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..
2026-04-01 S
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-06-26 10:32AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
2026-03-30 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
2026-03-30 S
Reported from PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3293) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
2026-03-25 S
The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in PSM were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Fukunaga, Lee, C., DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Hashimoto, Inouye.
2026-03-24 S
Public notice requirement waived pursuant to Senate Rule 21.
2026-03-24 S
Re-Referred to PSM, WAM.
2026-03-23 S
The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 3:00PM; CR 016 & Videoconference (Proposed Draft).
2026-03-23 S
The committee on PSM has deleted the measure from decision making scheduled on 03-23-26 3:00PM; CR 016 & Videoconference.
2026-03-20 S
The committee(s) on PSM deferred the measure until 03-23-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2026-03-18 S
Re-Referred to PSM, JDC.
2026-03-16 S
The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 3:15PM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to PSM, JDC/WAM.
2026-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 119).
2026-03-05 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-05 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 832-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-02-27 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Lee, M..
2026-02-24 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Friday, 02-27-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-20 H
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).
2026-02-20 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 746-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.
2026-02-18 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Takayama, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Cochran, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Hashem, Sayama.
2026-02-13 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Wednesday, 02-18-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-11 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Holt excused (1).
2026-02-11 H
Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 189-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
2026-02-06 H
The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Ichiyama, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
2026-02-03 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by PBS on Friday, 02-06-26 10:15AM in House conference room 411 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-02 H
Referred to PBS, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 6
2026-01-28 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
HIEMA; Emergency Management; Emergency Powers; Disasters; Emergencies; Hawaii Community Resilience Hub Program; Preparedness; Reports; Appropriation ($)
Clarifies the types of events that constitute disasters and emergencies for the purposes of emergency management. Establishes the Hawaii Community Resilience Hub Program within the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to support the development of community-based resilience hubs across the State and leverage federal, philanthropic, and private-sector funding for disaster preparedness and climate resilience. Requires the Agency to identify locations on each island that can be used as state disaster response and mitigation hubs when a state of emergency is declared. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates moneys. Effective 7/1/2055. (SD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB2581

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2581

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to emergency management
.

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

����
SECTION
1.
�
The legislature finds that it is
necessary to reestablish the proper constitutional framework of checks and
balances and separation of powers between the legislature and the executive
branch with respect to the enactment of laws to address important issues of
public policy.
�
Article III, section 1,
of the Hawaii State Constitution vests the "legislative power of the State"
in the legislature.
�
Article V, section 5, of the
Hawaii
State Constitution gives the governor the responsibility "for the faithful
execution of the laws" that are enacted.

����
The legislature further finds that the
decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court in
Nakoa III v. Governor of the State
of Hawaii
, 156 Hawaii 416, 575 P.3d 506 (2025), threatens to upset this
vital constitutional balance.
�
The Hawaii
Supreme Court interpreted chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to grant the
governor emergency powers, including the power to suspend laws enacted by the
legislature, to address "not only discrete events" that suddenly "threaten
substantial harm to Hawai
ʻ
i's people, property, or environment",
but also "long-term issues", such as the nearly century-long shortage
of affordable housing in Hawaii.

����
The legislature additionally finds that in
order to preserve the separation of powers and avoid executive overreach, it
must remain the exclusive province of the legislature to address longstanding
public-policy challenges.

����
Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to
clarify that the emergency powers granted by chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, to the governor and county mayors are strictly limited to situations
that involve responding to the sudden occurrence of disasters or emergencies of
unprecedented size and destructiveness resulting from natural or human-caused
hazards.

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 127A-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended as follows:

����
1.
�
By amending the definition of "disaster"
to read:

����
"
"Disaster" means [
any
emergency,
]
the occurrence
or imminent threat [
thereof, which re
sults
or may likely result in
]
of widespread or severe damage, injury, or
loss of
life, property, or environment [
and
]
resulting from any sudden
natural or artificial cause, including hurricanes, windstorms, floods, extreme
rain events, earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, volcanic activity, tsunamis,
fires, explosions, air or water contamination, blight, droughts, infestations,
riots, sabotage, hostile military or paramilitary action, hazardous material
accidents, disease or contagion outbreaks, bioterrorism, terrorism, or
incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, that
requires, or may
require, assistance from other counties, states, the federal government, or from
private agencies."

����
2.
�
By amending the definition of
""emergency" to read:

����
"
"Emergency" means [
any
]

the
occurrence[
,
] or imminent threat [
thereof, which results
or may likely result in substantial injury or
]
of a disaster that causes
or may be likely to cause catastrophic
harm
and immediate danger
to
the population [
or
]
,
substantial damage to or loss of property
,

or substantial damage to or loss of the environment[
.
]
and that
timely action can avert or minimize.
"

����
SECTION 3.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 4.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Emergency
Management; Emergency Powers; Disasters; Emergencies

Description:

Clarifies
the types of events that constitute disasters and emergencies for the purposes
of emergency management.

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