Hawaii Senate Bill SB1357

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

SB1357 is a fiscal and appropriations measure that funds the collective bargaining agreement and related salary adjustments for Hawaii bargaining unit 13 for the 2025-2027 biennium. The bill covers both employees who are represented by the unit and state officers and employees who are excluded from collective bargaining but are in the same compensation plans, including employees in the Department of Education, the Judiciary, and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. It authorizes or appropriates funds by source and agency, directs the Director of Finance to allot the money to the proper departments, and provides that unspent funds lapse at the end of each fiscal year. The bill also includes a general fund expenditure ceiling declaration, stating that the state’s general fund ceiling for FY 2025-2026 has already been exceeded and that the bill would further exceed it. It specifies that the appropriations are justified as necessary to serve the public interest and meet the needs addressed by the act. Although the bill text lists dollar amounts as zero placeholders in the version provided, the structure indicates it is intended to implement negotiated labor cost items and salary adjustments for the covered bargaining unit and comparable excluded employees. In terms of impact on state law, SB1357 would operate as a biennial budget measure affecting state payroll obligations and collective bargaining cost-item funding under Hawaii’s public employment and labor relations framework, including chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes. It would not create a new program or regulatory scheme, but would authorize the funding needed to carry out negotiated wage and benefit changes for unit 13 and related excluded positions across multiple state entities. The general sentiment appears supportive and noncontroversial in committee, as reflected by the Senate Labor and Technology Committee’s 4-0 passage with amendments. No committee transcript was provided, so there is little evidence of substantive debate in the materials available. The main point of potential contention is fiscal: the bill explicitly acknowledges that it exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling, which can raise budgetary concerns even when the underlying labor funding is routine or expected. Overall, the bill appears to be a standard labor-cost appropriations measure tied to collective bargaining settlements, with its significance lying more in budget implementation than policy change. Its practical effect would be to ensure that negotiated compensation changes for unit 13 and comparable excluded employees can be paid for in the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium.

Impact

SB1357 would amend state spending authority for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 by authorizing or appropriating funds for collective bargaining cost items and related salary adjustments for bargaining unit 13 and similarly situated excluded employees. It affects state payroll administration across the Department of Education, the Judiciary, and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and it invokes chapter 89C, HRS, as the legal basis for the salary and cost adjustments. The bill also formally declares an expenditure ceiling exceedance for FY 2025-2026 and provides for lapse of unspent funds at the end of each fiscal year.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was received favorably, with the Senate Labor and Technology Committee passing it 4-0 with amendments. No committee discussion transcript is available, so there is no recorded opposition or detailed debate in the provided materials. The overall tone is consistent with a routine, technical appropriations bill supporting negotiated public employee compensation changes.

Contention

The primary point of contention is fiscal rather than policy-based: the bill states that it would further exceed the state general fund expenditure ceiling, which can draw scrutiny in budget-constrained years. Any concern would likely come from lawmakers focused on spending limits, fiscal discipline, or the size of public employee compensation commitments. There is no evidence in the provided materials of disagreement over the labor agreement itself or the covered employee groups.