Hawaii House Bill HB1027

Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/23/25
• Report Pass: 2/11/25
• Refer: 2/11/25
• Report Pass: 2/27/25
• Engrossed: 2/27/25
• Refer: 3/4/25
• Report Pass: 3/18/25
• Refer: 3/18/25
• Report Pass: 4/4/25
• Report Pass: 4/25/25
• Enrolled: 5/1/25
• Chaptered: 5/12/25
• Passed: 5/12/25

Caption

Relating To Public Employment Cost Items.

Summary

HB1027 is an appropriations measure that funds the fiscal biennium 2025-2027 collective bargaining cost items for Hawaii State bargaining units (1) and (10), along with comparable salary and cost adjustments for excluded employees in the same compensation plans. The bill covers statewide executive branch employees, the Department of Education, the Judiciary, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and it also includes funding for health premium payments tied to those agreements. The bill sets out specific amounts from general funds, special funds, federal funds, other federal funds, interdepartmental transfers, and revolving funds, and directs the Director of Finance to allot the money to the proper departments or entities. It also authorizes or appropriates funds for the chief justice and for Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and provides that any covered employee paid from federal or other non-general funds must be paid proportionately from those sources. Unspent funds lapse at the end of each fiscal year, and the act takes effect July 1, 2025.

Impact

HB1027 would amend state spending authority by appropriating and authorizing funds needed to implement negotiated labor agreements and related compensation adjustments for bargaining units (1) and (10) and their excluded counterparts. It affects budget execution across multiple state agencies and entities, including the Department of Education, Judiciary, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and it ties those expenditures to the 2025-2027 biennium. The bill does not create new labor rights or change bargaining law itself, but it operationalizes existing collective bargaining obligations and chapter 89C compensation adjustments through specific appropriations and allotment instructions.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad support and little opposition. Senate committee votes were unanimous in the recorded actions, and both the Senate and House conference committees passed the measure with amendments by 3-0 votes. No committee transcripts were provided, but the pattern of unanimous or near-unanimous approval indicates the bill was generally viewed as a routine and necessary funding measure for negotiated public employee compensation costs.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive controversy in the available record. The main technical issues appear to be the allocation of costs among funding sources, the inclusion of both represented and excluded employees, and the distribution of funds across agencies such as the Department of Education, Judiciary, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. Any disagreement likely centered on fiscal details and amendments rather than on the underlying policy of funding collective bargaining agreements, since the bill advanced with unanimous votes in the recorded committees.