SB2521 • 2026

RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES.

Healthcare

Active

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

Sponsor: KOUCHI (Introduced by request of another party)
Last action: 2026-04-22
Official status: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 720).
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 SERVICES.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES.
City and County of Honolulu Mayor's Package; DOH; Commercial Driver's License Exemption; Emergency Medical Services Personnel; Authorized Emergency Vehicle Exempts emergency medical services personnel from commercial driver's license requirements.
Requires federal, state, and county firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, and law enforcement officers to maintain proof of successful completion of agency-approved or other state-approved training on authorized emergency vehicles.
Amends the definition of "authorized emergency vehicle" under the State Traffic Code to replace ambulances with emergency medical services vehicles.

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: SB2521 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB2521 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
2521 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII H.D.

HD2

Hawaii published version HD2

Plain English: SB2521 HD2 THE SENATE S.B.

SB2521 HD2 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
2521 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII H.D.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: SB2521 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB2521 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
2521 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES .

Bill History

2026-04-22 H
Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 720).
2026-04-21 S
Senate Conferees Appointed: Inouye Chair; McKelvey, Rhoads Co-Chairs; Elefante.
2026-04-21 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 800).
2026-04-21 H
House Conferees Appointed: Kila, Poepoe Co-Chairs; Muraoka.
2026-04-16 H
Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 710).
2026-04-16 S
Senate disagrees with House amendments.
2026-04-16 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 667).
2026-04-14 H
Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-04-10 H
Deferred one day 04-14-26.
2026-04-08 H
Forty-eight (48) hours notice Friday, 04-10-26.
2026-04-08 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1824-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-03-31 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Sayama.
2026-03-25 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Tuesday, 03-31-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-03-24 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) Garrett, Quinlan excused (2).
2026-03-24 H
Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1336-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
2026-03-19 H
The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Miyake, Evslin, Grandinetti, La Chica, Cochran, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kitagawa.
2026-03-16 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by TRN on Thursday, 03-19-26 8:30AM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-03-12 H
Referred to TRN, JHA, referral sheet 17
2026-03-12 H
Pass First Reading
2026-03-10 H
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 256) in amended form (SD 1).
2026-03-10 S
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2026-03-06 S
One Day Notice 03-10-26.
2026-03-06 S
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3029) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading.
2026-03-03 S
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Chang, San Buenaventura.
2026-02-24 S
The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 03-03-26 10:15AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2026-02-17 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC.
2026-02-17 S
Reported from TRS/HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2278) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.
2026-02-11 S
The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
2026-02-11 S
The committee(s) on TRS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in TRS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Inouye, Elefante, Kanuha, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..
2026-02-06 S
The committee(s) on TRS/HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 02-11-26 1:15PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.
2026-01-28 S
Referred to TRS/HHS, JDC.
2026-01-23 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-01-23 S
Introduced.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES.
City and County of Honolulu Mayor's Package; DOH; Commercial Driver's License Exemption; Emergency Medical Services Personnel; Authorized Emergency Vehicle
Exempts emergency medical services personnel from commercial driver's license requirements. Requires federal, state, and county firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, and law enforcement officers to maintain proof of successful completion of agency-approved or other state-approved training on authorized emergency vehicles. Amends the definition of "authorized emergency vehicle" under the State Traffic Code to replace ambulances with emergency medical services vehicles. Expands the definition of "authorized emergency vehicle" to include disaster response and recovery vehicles and Department of Health vehicles. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB2521

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2521

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING
TO EMERGENCY SERVICES
.

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

����
SECTION 1.

�
The legislature understands that requiring
first responders to obtain commercial driver's licenses to operate authorized
commercial vehicles is not in the best interest of public safety, because first
responders receive training provided by federal, state, and county government
agencies that would satisfy this requirement.
�
Imposing this requirement would only serve to
create an administrative hurdle for first responders and hinder the performance
of their vital public safety functions.

����
The
legislature finds that although emergency medical service personnel, who may be
assigned to operate vehicles which are classified as commercial motor vehicles
in the performance of essential public safety functions, receive the same
levels of rigorous training, they are still required to obtain commercial
driver's licenses, which slows down hiring, raises costs, and creates
administrative hurdles for emergency medical services departments across the State.

����
The
legislature further finds that exempting qualified emergency medical services
personnel from commercial driver's license requirements may help to alleviate
barriers to recruitment and retention, and streamline essential functions,
while maintaining public safety standards.

����
The
legislature also finds that the current definition for "authorized
emergency vehicle" in the Hawaii Revised Statutes is insufficient, in that
it does not include alternative emergency service vehicles utilized by
emergency medical service departments in the State.

����
Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to:

����
(1)
�
Exempt emergency medical services personnel
from commercial driver's license requirements, similar to other licensed first
responders operating in the State; and

����
(2)
�
Amend the definition of "authorized
emergency vehicle" in section 291C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to clarify
that all vehicles operated by licensed emergency services personnel, not just
ambulances, are included in the definition.

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 286-235.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�286-235.5
�
Persons exempt from licensure.
�
The following persons shall be exempt from
licensure under this part:

����
(1)
�
Individuals who operate commercial motor
vehicles for military purposes.
�
This
exception is limited to active-duty military personnel, members of the military
reserves, members of the national guard on active duty, including personnel on
full-time national guard duty, personnel on part-time national guard training,
and national guard military technicians (civilians who are required to wear
military uniforms), and active-duty United States Coast Guard personnel.
�
This exception is not applicable to
United States

reserve technicians; and

����
(2)
�
Federal, state, and county firefighters,
emergency
services personnel,
and law enforcement officers who drive federal, state,
or county fire trucks, including fire pumpers, aerial ladder trucks, and
elevated platform trucks, or authorized emergency vehicles; provided that they
are trained by the federal, state, or county government and the commercial
motor vehicles are equipped with audible and visual signals and are not subject
to normal traffic regulation.
�
For
purposes of this paragraph, "authorized emergency vehicle" shall have
the same meaning as in section 291C-1."

����
SECTION
3
.
�
Section 291C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending the definition of "authorized emergency vehicle"
to read as follows:

����
"
"Authorized emergency
vehicle" includes fire department vehicles, police vehicles, [
ambulances,
]

emergency medical services vehicles,
ocean safety vehicles, law
enforcement vehicles, conservation and resources enforcement vehicles, and
office of the state fire marshal vehicles authorized and approved pursuant to
section 291-31.5 that are publicly owned and other publicly or privately owned
vehicles designated as such by a county council."

����
SECTION
4.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION
5.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

By Request

Report Title:

City and
County of Honolulu Mayor's Package; Commercial Driver's License Exemption;
Emergency Medical Services Personnel; Authorized Emergency Vehicle

Description:

Exempts
emergency medical services personnel from commercial driver's license
requirements.
�
Amends the definition of "authorized
emergency vehicle" under State Traffic Code to replace ambulances with
emergency medical services vehicles.

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