Hawaii House Bill HB1439

Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/27/25
• Report Pass: 2/28/25
• Engrossed: 3/4/25
• Refer: 3/6/25
• Report Pass: 4/3/25
• Report Pass: 4/25/25
• Enrolled: 5/1/25
• Chaptered: 5/29/25
• Passed: 5/29/25

Caption

Making Appropriations For Public Employment Cost Items.

Summary

HB1439 is an appropriations bill that funds public employment cost items for selected legislative branch offices and agencies for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. It provides general fund appropriations to cover Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund costs and other authorized cost adjustments for legislative officers and employees who are excluded from collective bargaining. The bill allocates specific amounts to the State Ethics Commission, Office of the Auditor, Legislative Reference Bureau, Office of the Ombudsman, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The measure also establishes how the appropriated funds are to be administered. The money is allotted to the head of each chamber or agency for expenditure, and if any affected employee is paid from federal, special, or other funds, the cost items must be paid from those funds proportionately or wholly as applicable. Any unspent or unencumbered funds lapse at the end of the fiscal year. The act takes effect on July 1, 2025.

Impact

HB1439 amends state spending authority by appropriating general revenues for legislative branch personnel-related costs and health benefit obligations under chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes. It does not create a new program or regulatory scheme, but it does authorize and direct funding for compensation-related adjustments for excluded legislative employees and officers across several legislative agencies. The bill affects the budgets of the Senate, House, State Ethics Commission, Office of the Auditor, Legislative Reference Bureau, and Office of the Ombudsman, and it may also draw on non-general funds where applicable.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have broad support and little visible opposition. The available voting history shows unanimous or near-unanimous passage in the Senate Ways and Means Committee and in both conference committees, all with amendments. No committee transcript is available, but the voting pattern suggests the measure was viewed as a routine and necessary appropriations bill to keep legislative branch employment costs and benefits funded.

Contention

There is no recorded substantive debate in the provided materials, so no major points of contention are evident. The only likely issues are technical and fiscal: the size of the appropriations, the allocation among agencies, and the treatment of employees whose compensation is paid from federal, special, or other funds. Because the bill concerns internal legislative branch compensation and benefits, any disagreement would likely have centered on budget levels and fund sources rather than policy direction.