SB2661 • 2026

RELATING TO NEPOTISM.

Labor

Active

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

Sponsor: KIM, CHANG, HASHIMOTO, KEOHOKALOLE, KIDANI, MORIWAKI, San Buenaventura
Last action: 2026-03-30
Official status: 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) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).
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 NEPOTISM.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO NEPOTISM.
Legislature; Judiciary; Code of Ethics; Nepotism; Prohibition Subjects all nominated, appointed, or elected officers and employees of the State, including members of boards, commissions, and committees; individuals under contract to the State or constitutional convention; and legislators, delegates to a constitutional convention, and justices and judges, and their respective employees, to nepotism prohibitions in the State's Code of Ethics.
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: SB2661 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB2661 HD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
2661 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII H.D.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: SB2661 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.

SB2661 SD1 THE SENATE S.B.
NO.
2661 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NEPOTISM .

Bill History

2026-03-30 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) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).
2026-03-30 H
Reported from LMG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1494-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
2026-03-23 H
The committee on LMG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Kahaloa, Morikawa, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan.
2026-03-20 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by LMG on Monday, 03-23-26 2:30PM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-03-12 H
Referred to LMG, JHA, referral sheet 17
2026-03-12 H
Pass First Reading
2026-03-10 H
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 276) in amended form (SD 1).
2026-03-10 S
Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2026-03-05 S
48 Hrs. Notice 3/10/2026.
2026-03-05 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1).
2026-03-05 S
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2811) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
2026-02-20 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, Gabbard, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Chang.
2026-02-13 S
The committee(s) on JDC deferred the measure until 02-20-26 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2026-02-09 S
The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-13-26 9:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2026-02-04 S
Re-Referred to JDC.
2026-01-28 S
Referred to GVO, JDC.
2026-01-26 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-01-23 S
Introduced.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO NEPOTISM.
Legislature; Judiciary; Code of Ethics; Nepotism; Prohibition
Subjects all nominated, appointed, or elected officers and employees of the State, including members of boards, commissions, and committees; individuals under contract to the State or constitutional convention; and legislators, delegates to a constitutional convention, and justices and judges, and their respective employees, to nepotism prohibitions in the State's Code of Ethics. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB2661

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2661

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to nepotism
.

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

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature recognizes the importance of
maintaining transparency, accountability, and fairness in government
operations.
�
While existing laws prohibit
most state employees from hiring or supervising relatives or awarding contracts
to businesses owned by relatives or household members, these provisions do not
currently extend to employees of the legislative and judicial branches.

����
Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to subject legislative and judicial employees to the
same ethical standards as other state employees, effectively preventing
nepotism across all branches of state government.

����
SECTION

2
.
�
Section
84-13.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"[
[
]�84-13.2[
]
]
�

Nepotism; prohibition.
�
(a)
�
No
employee shall:

����
(1)
�
Appoint, hire, promote, or retain a
relative or household member to, or demote, discharge, or terminate a relative
or household member from; or

����
(2)
�
Participate in an interview or
discussion regarding the appointment, hiring, promotion, or retention of a
relative or household member to, or the demotion, discharge, or termination of
a relative or household member from,

a paid
position in the employee's employing agency
; provided that this subsection shall not prohibit an employee from
performing ministerial acts that may impact the relative or household member if
those acts are a part of the normal job functions of the employee.

����
(b)
�
No employee shall supervise a relative or
household member unless the employee
:

����
(1)
�
H
as a physical impairment requiring the
employment of a particular relative or household member; provided that the
employee discloses the prospective employment to the state ethics commission
before the appointment or hire is made; or

����
(2)
�
Disqualifies oneself from taking any official
action directly affecting the relative or household member.

����
(c)
�
No employee shall award a
contract to or otherwise take official action on a contract with a business if
the employee knows or reasonably should know that the employee's relative or
household member is an executive officer of or holds a substantial ownership
interest in that business.

����
(d)
�
Notwithstanding the prohibitions in this section, if

an employee who is a supervisor or executive director is unable to waive
or disengage from completing their official duties or from
taking
official action and is legally required to take action that directly impacts a
relative or household member receiving an
award or other official action
on a contract described in subsection (c), the employee shall not be in
violation of this section if the employee:

����
(1)
�
Has complied with the disclosure
requirements of section 84-17; and

����
(2)
�
Posts a notice of intent to award the
contract and files a copy of the notice with the state ethics commission at
least five days before awarding the contract.
�

If the posting and filing of the award in advance is otherwise
prohibited by law, notice shall be posted and filed as soon as
practicable.
�
Every notice of intent
shall describe the employee's relationship with the relative or household
member, the relative or household member's relationship with the entity
receiving the contract, action taken and to be taken affecting the relative or
household member's business, and the dollar value of the contract.

����
(e)
�
Upon application, the state
ethics commission may grant an exception to an employee or agency that is
unable to comply with this section for good cause, including a demonstrated
lack of qualified personnel or applicants.

����
(f)
�
Any employee who knowingly
violates this section shall be subject to the administrative fines set forth in
section 84‑39.
�
Any favorable
action obtained by a relative or household member of an employee in violation
of this section shall be voidable in accordance with sections 84-16 and 84-19.

����
(g)
�
This section shall not affect
the applicability of section 84-13 or 84-14.

����
(h)
�

This section shall not prohibit a state agency from appointing, hiring,
promoting, retaining, demoting, discharging, or terminating a relative or
household member of an employee employed by the agency.

����
[
(i)
�

Notwithstanding sections 84-2 and 84-3, this section shall not apply to
employees or agencies of the legislative or judicial branch of the State.

����
(j)
]
(i)
�
For purposes of this section:

����
"Household
member" means an individual who resides in the same dwelling unit as the
employee.

����
"Relative"
means the employee's parent, grandparent, stepparent, child, grandchild,
stepchild, foster child, adopted child, sibling, half-sibling, stepsibling,
parent's sibling, first cousin, sibling's child, spouse, spouse's parent,
child-in-law, or sibling-in-law, or any individual who has become a member of
the employee's immediate family through the Hawaiian hanai custom."

����
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:

Legislative
and Judicial Employees; Code of Ethics; Nepotism; Prohibition

Description:

Repeals language in the State's Code of Ethics that
exempts the legislative and judicial branches from prohibitions against
nepotism in public employment.

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