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HB2597
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
2597
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to artificial intelligence
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
�
Chapter 27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding two new sections to part VII to be appropriately designated
and to read as follows:
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"
�27-
�
Open
data portal; comprehensive Hawaii data hub; artificial intelligence chatbot;
phased development.
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(a)
�
The
chief data officer shall enhance the State's open data portal at
data.hawaii.gov or successor website, as designated through the office of
enterprise technology services, to make the open data portal the comprehensive
Hawaii data hub, which shall include public data from all state entities, by
developing and publishing an artificial intelligence chatbot and necessary data
visualizations on statewide shared data sets to assist the public in navigating
the State's open data portal and finding information about statewide services
across state departments and agencies.
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(b)
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The chief data officer shall develop the artificial intelligence chatbot
in phases.
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The chief data officer shall ensure
full transparency throughout the process and publish the contents covered in
each phase of development of the chatbot, including tests and yearly audits, on
data.hawaii.gov or successor website.
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State departments and agencies shall utilize the artificial intelligence
chatbot or link their departmental chatbot to the comprehensive Hawaii data hub
to ensure chat chatbot results are consistent across state websites.
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(c)
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In
developing the artificial intelligence chatbot pursuant to this section, the
chief data officer shall ensure that:
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(1)
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Queries for the
chatbot and answers by the chatbot are available in English and Olelo Hawaii;
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(2)
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Any answer
provided by the chatbot includes a source link;
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(3)
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The chatbot
includes a disclaimer that any answer provided by the chatbot is artificial
intelligence-generated;
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(4)
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There is a clear means
of connecting
a chatbot user with a human if the user requests assistance;
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(5)
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The chatbot is
explicitly prohibited from providing any legal advice or medical advice to a
user; and
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(6)
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No user can
delete data collected by the chatbot to respond to the user.
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(d)
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The chief data officer may provide the
artificial intelligence chatbot developed pursuant to this section to any state
department or agency for use on that department's or agency's website.
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(e)
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The chief data officer shall ensure the artificial intelligence chatbot
developed
pursuant to this section
adheres to the
State's privacy and security policies.
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(f)
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As
used in this section, "artificial intelligence chatbot" or
"chatbot" means a software application, web interface, or computer
program designed to have textual or spoken conversations that uses a generative
artificial intelligence system capable of maintaining a conversation with a
user in a manner that uses natural language and simulates the way a natural
person would behave as a conversational partner.
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�27-
�
Chief data officer; artificial
intelligence; governance tools; departmental and agency use.
�
(a)
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The chief data officer shall
develop a system to evaluate and select for procurement artificial intelligence
governance tools for use by state departments and agencies to ensure the
responsible use of artificial intelligence by those departments and agencies.
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(b)
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The chief data officer shall establish a mechanism for state departments
and agencies to report to the chief data officer on any artificial intelligence
use cases and artificial intelligence vendors used by the departments and agencies
and publish a list of use cases and vendors on data.hawaii.gov or successor
website; provided that state departments and agencies shall participate in the
use case reporting process.
"
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SECTION
2
.
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Section 27-44,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
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1.
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By amending subsection (a) to read:
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"(a)
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There is established within the office of
enterprise technology services a full-time chief data officer to develop,
implement, and manage statewide data policies, procedures, and standards
pursuant to section 27-44.3 [
and to
]
;
facilitate data sharing
across state agencies[
.
]
;
and develop and
publish an artificial intelligence chatbot
to assist the public in navigating the State's open data portal and
finding information about statewide services
pursuant to section 27- .
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The chief data officer shall use the state
information assets and analytics to research and recommend processes and tools
to improve inter-departmental and intra-departmental decision making and
reporting.
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The chief data officer shall
be appointed by and report directly to the chief information officer.
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Each executive branch department, including
the department of education and University of Hawaii, shall use reasonable
efforts to make appropriate and existing data sets maintained by the department
electronically available to the public through the State's open data portal at
data.hawaii.gov or successor website designated by the chief data officer;
provided that:
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(1)
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Nothing in this
chapter shall require departments to create new electronic data sets or to make
data sets available upon demand;
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(2)
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Data licensed to
the State by another person or entity shall not be made public under this
chapter unless the person or entity licensing the data agrees to the public
disclosure; and
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(3)
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Proprietary and
other information protected from disclosure by law or contract shall not be
disclosed.
This disclosure shall be consistent with the
policies, procedures, and standards developed by the chief data officer and
consistent with applicable law, including chapter 92F and other state and
federal laws related to security and privacy, and no personally identifiable
information shall be posted online unless the identified individual has
consented to the posting or the posting is necessary to fulfill the lawful
purposes or duties of the department."
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2.
�
By amending subsection (d) to read:
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"
(d)
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There is established a data task force to
assist the chief data officer in developing the State's data policies,
procedures, and standards[
.
]
, including advising in the
development and publishing of an artificial
intelligence chatbot to assist the public in navigating the State's open data portal
and finding information about statewide services
pursuant to section
27- .
�
The task
force shall comprise the following members:
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(1)
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One representative
of the judiciary, to be appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court;
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(2)
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The superintendent
of education, or the superintendent's designee;
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(3)
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The director of
human services, or the director's designee;
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(4)
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The director of
health, or the director's designee;
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(5)
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The director of
business, economic development, and tourism, or the director's designee;
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(6)
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The president of
the University of Hawaii, or the president's designee;
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(7)
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Two members of the
public to represent nonprofit organization stakeholders having experience in
data, of which one member shall be chosen and invited to participate by the
speaker of the house of representatives and one member shall be chosen and
invited to participate by the president of the senate; and
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(8)
�
Two members of the
public to represent for-profit business stakeholders having experience in data,
of which one member shall be chosen and invited to participate by the speaker
of the house of representatives and one member shall be chosen and invited to
participate by the president of the senate.
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The chief data officer shall serve
as the chair of the task force and shall ensure that the task force is
evaluated periodically."
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SECTION 3.
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There is appropriated out of the general
revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $2,000,000 or so much thereof as may
be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for:
����
(1)
�
The chief data officer to develop and publish
an artificial intelligence chatbot to assist the public in navigating the
State's open data portal
and finding
information about statewide services
pursuant to section 27- ,
Hawaii Revised Statutes;
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(2)
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Artificial intelligence governance tools;
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(3)
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The establishment of one full-time equivalent
(1.0 FTE) artificial intelligence engineer position;
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(4)
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The establishment of one full-time equivalent
(1.0 FTE) artificial intelligence scientist position; and
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(5)
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For any necessary improvements, as determined
by the chief data officer, for the State's open data portal at data.hawaii.gov.
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The sum appropriated shall be
expended by the department of accounting and general services for the purposes
of this Act.
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SECTION 4.
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Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.
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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Chief
Data Officer; Open Data Portal; Comprehensive Hawaii Data Hub; Artificial
Intelligence; Governance Tools; State Departments and Agencies; Artificial
Intelligence Chatbot; Appropriation
Description:
Requires
the Chief Data Officer to enhance the State's open data portal website through
the phased development and publishing of an artificial intelligence chatbot and
necessary data visualizations on statewide shared data sets to assist the
public in navigating the open data portal website and finding information about
statewide services across state departments and agencies.
�
Requires the Chief Data Officer to develop a
system to evaluate and select for procurement artificial intelligence
governance tools for use by state departments and agencies and establish a
mechanism for reporting and publication of artificial intelligence use cases
and artificial intelligence vendors used by the departments and agencies.
�
Appropriates funds.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.