SB109 • 2026

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE.

Active

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

Sponsor: RHOADS, SAN BUENAVENTURA
Last action: 2026-04-02
Official status: Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
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 THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE.
Hawaiian Language; State Law; Public Documents Requires that the Hawaiian version of a law be held binding if the law in question was originally drafted in Hawaiian and meets certain criteria.
Effective 7/1/3000.
(HD1)

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: SB109 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB109 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
109 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 S.D.
2 STATE OF HAWAII H.D.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: SB109 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB109 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
109 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE .

SD2

Hawaii published version SD2

Plain English: SB109 SD2 THE SENATE S.B.

SB109 SD2 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
109 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 S.D.
2 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE .

Bill History

2026-04-02 S
Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
2026-04-01 H
House Conferee(s) discharged.
2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-04-15 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 731).
2025-04-14 H
House Conferees Appointed: Tarnas Chair; Poepoe, Garcia.
2025-04-08 H
Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 774).
2025-04-08 S
Senate disagrees with House amendments.
2025-04-08 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 570).
2025-04-04 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kapela, Marten excused (3). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-04-02 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).
2025-04-02 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1748) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
2025-03-11 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.
2025-03-07 H
Re-referred to JHA, referral sheet 20
2025-03-07 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Tuesday, 03-11-25 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-03-06 H
Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 19
2025-03-06 H
Pass First Reading
2025-03-04 H
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 86) in amended form (SD 2).
2025-03-04 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.
2025-02-28 S
48 Hrs. Notice 03-04-25.
2025-02-28 S
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 901) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
2025-02-19 S
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.
2025-02-14 S
The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-19-25 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2025-02-11 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC.
2025-02-11 S
Reported from HWN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 207) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.
2025-01-28 S
The committee(s) on HWN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HWN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Richards, San Buenaventura, Keohokalole, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Ihara.
2025-01-24 S
The committee(s) on HWN has scheduled a public hearing on 01-28-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.
2025-01-16 S
Referred to HWN, JDC.
2025-01-15 S
Introduced and passed First Reading.
2025-01-09 S
Pending Introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE.
Hawaiian Language; State Law; Public Documents
Requires that the Hawaiian version of a law be held binding if the law in question was originally drafted in Hawaiian and meets certain criteria. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB109

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

109

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to the hawaiian language
.

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

����
SECTION
1
.
�
The
legislature finds that at the
Constitutional Convention of Hawaii of 1978, the committee on Hawaiian affairs
proposed the constitutional amendment that is now enshrined in article XV,
section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution, which establishes Hawaiian as an
official language of the State.
�
The committee
felt it necessary to include this amendment in the constitution "to give
full recognition and honor to the rich cultural inheritance that Hawaiians have
given to all ethnic groups of the State."

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The
legislature further finds that passage of this Act would contribute to the
growing international movement for the protection of the rights of the world's
indigenous peoples.
�
In 2007, the United
Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples.
�
In 2011, the United States
became a signatory on the Declaration.
�
Article
13 of the Declaration states:

����
"1.
�
Indigenous
peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future
generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing
systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for
communities, places and persons.

�����
2.
�
States
shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected and also
to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in
political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the
provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means."

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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to
require
that the Hawaiian version of a law be held binding if the law in
question was originally drafted in Hawaiian and then translated into English.

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 1-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

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"
�
1-13
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Official languages.
�

English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawaii.
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Whenever there is found to exist any radical
and irreconcilable difference between the English and Hawaiian version of any
of the laws of the State, the English version shall be held binding[
.
]
;
provided that if the law in question was originally drafted in Hawaiian and the
English version was translated based on the Hawaiian version, the Hawaiian
version shall be held binding.
�

Hawaiian shall not be required for public acts and transactions.
"

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SECTION 3.
�

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

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

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaiian
Language; State Law; Public Documents

Description:

Requires
that the Hawaiian version of a law be held binding if the
law in question was originally drafted in Hawaiian and then translated into
English
.

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