Hawaii House Bill HB1032

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: 5/13/25
• Passed: 5/13/25

Caption

Relating To Public Employment Cost Items.

Summary

HB1032 is an appropriations measure that funds public employment cost items for Hawaii State Bargaining Unit (6) for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium. The bill provides money to cover the negotiated collective bargaining agreement for BU-6 employees, including salary increases and other cost adjustments, and it also funds the corresponding adjustments for state officers and employees who are excluded from collective bargaining but are in the same compensation plans. The appropriations are split across general funds, federal funds, trust funds, revolving funds, and a health premium payments account, with separate amounts allocated for each fiscal year. The bill also specifies that any costs for employees paid from federal, special, or other funds must be charged proportionately to those sources, and that unspent or unencumbered funds lapse at the end of each fiscal year. It takes effect on July 1, 2025, and functions as a budget implementation bill to carry out the State’s labor cost obligations under chapter 89C and the negotiated BU-6 agreement.

Impact

HB1032 would amend state spending authority by appropriating funds to implement negotiated compensation changes for BU-6 employees and their excluded counterparts, rather than changing substantive labor law. It affects state budgeting and payroll administration across agencies that employ BU-6 workers, including the allocation of funds from general, federal, trust, revolving, and health premium payment accounts. The bill reinforces the operation of chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by funding the salary and benefit adjustments authorized for comparable excluded employees.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad support for the bill. Senate committee votes were unanimous or near-unanimous, and both conference committees passed the measure with amendments by 3-0 votes. There is no committee transcript indicating significant opposition, and the bill’s purpose appears to be a routine funding measure to implement an already negotiated labor agreement.

Contention

The main issues are likely fiscal rather than policy-based: the size of the appropriations, the use of general funds versus other funding sources, and ensuring that excluded employees receive comparable adjustments. Because the bill implements a negotiated agreement for one bargaining unit, any concern would most likely come from budget hawks or those scrutinizing the cost of public employee compensation, but the recorded votes do not show active controversy. The conference amendments indicate some technical or fiscal refinement, but not a substantive dispute over the bill’s core purpose.