Hawaii House Bill HB1036

Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/23/25
• Report Pass: 2/10/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• 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

Caption

Relating To Public Employment Cost Items.

Summary

HB1036 is a fiscal measure that provides appropriations or authorizations for collective bargaining cost items for Hawaii public employees in Bargaining Unit (10) for the 2025-2027 biennium. It covers negotiated contract costs for unit 10 employees statewide, including those in the Department of Education, the Judiciary, and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. The bill also funds comparable salary increases and other cost adjustments for excluded employees who are in the same compensation plans as unit 10 members. The bill is structured in multiple parts that allocate or authorize funds by agency and funding source, with separate provisions for state departments, the chief justice, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. It includes standard fiscal provisions directing the Director of Finance to allot funds, requiring that unspent funds lapse at the end of each fiscal year, and specifying that costs paid from federal, special, or other funds must be charged proportionately to those sources. It also contains a constitutional expenditure-ceiling declaration stating that the general fund expenditure ceiling for FY 2025-2026 has already been exceeded and that the bill would exceed it further. The bill’s practical impact is to implement the state’s labor cost obligations for bargaining unit 10 and related excluded employees by authorizing the money needed to pay negotiated wage and cost adjustments. It affects state budgeting and payroll administration rather than creating new substantive employment rights, and it touches appropriations for the executive branch, the judiciary, the Department of Education, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. The bill also references chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which governs salary increases and cost adjustments for excluded employees. The general sentiment reflected in the available voting history is strongly supportive. The Senate Labor and Technology Committee passed the bill with amendments by a 4-0 vote, and the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed it unamended by a 12-0 vote. No committee transcripts were provided, but the unanimous votes suggest broad agreement on funding the negotiated public employment costs. There is little visible contention in the available record, likely because the bill is a routine appropriations measure tied to collective bargaining obligations. The main policy issue apparent from the text is fiscal: the bill acknowledges that it exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling for FY 2025-2026. Any concern would therefore center on budget capacity and the constitutional spending limit, rather than on the underlying labor agreement itself.

Impact

HB1036 would authorize or appropriate funds for collective bargaining cost items and related salary adjustments for Bargaining Unit (10) employees and similarly situated excluded employees across state government, the Judiciary, the Department of Education, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. It operates as an appropriations and budget implementation bill, affecting state payroll and agency spending authority for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, while also invoking chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for excluded employees. The bill includes lapse provisions, allotment instructions, and an expenditure-ceiling declaration, but it does not appear to amend substantive employment law beyond funding obligations.

Sentiment

The available voting history indicates clear support for the bill, with unanimous passage in both the Senate Labor and Technology Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The absence of recorded opposition and the routine nature of the measure suggest the bill was viewed as a necessary funding vehicle for negotiated public employee compensation costs. The only apparent caution in the text is the acknowledgment that the appropriations would exceed the state general fund expenditure ceiling, but that did not prevent committee approval.

Contention

The main point of contention is fiscal rather than policy-based: the bill states that the state general fund expenditure ceiling for FY 2025-2026 has already been exceeded and that the bill would exceed it further. That issue could concern budget hawks, fiscal watchdogs, or lawmakers focused on constitutional spending limits. Otherwise, the bill appears to be a standard funding measure for negotiated labor costs, and the unanimous committee votes suggest little disagreement over the underlying collective bargaining obligations.