Hawaii Senate Bill SB1352

Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/27/25
• Report Pass: 2/7/25
• Refer: 2/7/25

Caption

Relating To Public Employment Cost Items.

Summary

SB 1352 is a fiscal and appropriations measure that funds the cost items of the collective bargaining agreement for bargaining unit (7) for the 2025-2027 biennium. It appropriates money from multiple funding sources—general, special, federal, trust, revolving, and American Rescue Plan funds—to cover negotiated salary increases and other cost adjustments for unit 7 employees. The bill also provides funding for similar adjustments for state officers and employees who are excluded from collective bargaining but are in the same compensation plans as unit 7 employees. The bill separately addresses health premium payments, though the listed general-fund amounts for those sections are zero. It includes standard fiscal provisions directing the director of finance to allot funds to the appropriate departments, requiring proportional payment from non-general funds when applicable, and causing unspent funds to lapse at the end of each fiscal year. It also states that the appropriations will further exceed Hawaii’s general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2025-2026 and includes a constitutional justification for doing so. The act is drafted to take effect on July 1, 2050, which appears to be a placeholder or delayed effective date rather than an immediate policy change. In terms of impact on state law, the bill does not create a new regulatory program or alter substantive employment rules broadly; instead, it authorizes spending and implements the fiscal terms of an existing or negotiated labor agreement under Hawaii’s public employment and collective bargaining framework. Its main legal effect is to appropriate funds and authorize payment of negotiated compensation items for unit 7 and comparable excluded employees, while also acknowledging the expenditure ceiling issue under the state constitution and related statutes. The general sentiment reflected in the available history is favorable and noncontroversial. The Senate Labor and Technology Committee passed the bill with amendments on a 4-0 vote, and there is no recorded opposition in the provided materials. That suggests broad support for funding the negotiated compensation obligations, likely because the bill is a routine implementation of labor agreement costs rather than a policy dispute. No major points of contention are shown in the transcript record provided, but the bill does raise a fiscal issue by stating that the general fund expenditure ceiling has already been exceeded and will be exceeded further by the bill’s appropriations. The likely area of concern is therefore budgetary rather than policy-based: the cost of collective bargaining settlements, the use of general versus non-general funds, and compliance with the state expenditure ceiling. However, the committee vote indicates those concerns did not prevent advancement.

Impact

SB 1352 would appropriate and authorize funding for collective bargaining cost items for bargaining unit (7) employees and for excluded employees in the same compensation plans, affecting state payroll and benefit expenditures for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. It would operate within Hawaii’s public employment and collective bargaining statutes, including chapter 89C, by funding negotiated salary increases, related cost adjustments, and health premium payment provisions, while also recognizing that the appropriations contribute to exceeding the state general fund expenditure ceiling.

Sentiment

The available legislative history suggests generally positive support for the bill. The Senate Labor and Technology Committee passed SB 1352 with amendments on a unanimous 4-0 vote, and there are no recorded dissenting remarks or opposition in the provided materials. The bill appears to be treated as a routine appropriations measure to implement negotiated public employee compensation terms.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is fiscal rather than substantive policy disagreement. The bill explicitly states that the state’s general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2025-2026 has already been exceeded and that this measure will increase that overage, which could raise budgetary concerns. Another possible issue is the size and source of the appropriations across multiple funds, but the committee action suggests these concerns were not strongly divisive in the available record.