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Hawaii · 2026 Regular Session · Bill

HB 1531: RELATING TO EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Passed one chamber Official data

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Enacted

Last official action: ·Record last updated:

Plain-language summary

HB 1531 is a bill introduced in the Hawaii House on January 14, 2026. According to its official title, it concerns: RELATING TO EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENTS. Primary sponsor: Sam Kong (Democratic). Most recent recorded action (March 12, 2026): Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 240).

Generated automatically from the official title, sponsor list, and status record only. It does not characterize the bill’s purpose or effects. How summaries are written

Official summary

Abstract published by the legislature (via Open States). Text as published by the legislature; reproduced verbatim.

Requires the Governor or mayor of a county, during a state of emergency, to provide an American Sign Language interpreter at each live broadcast press conference. Requires the Governor or mayor of a county to provide a primary pool feed for any live official announcement that includes an American Sign Language interpreter in a picture-in-picture window, and does not require broadcasters that rebroadcast the official announcement to independently generate or insert this accessibility feature. Requires, to the fullest extent possible, that the American Sign Language interpreter's face, body, arms, and hands are visible. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 1

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Sam KongPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse33

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

  1. Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 240).
  2. Passed First Reading.
  3. Referred to PSM, WAM.
  4. Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia, Gedeon, Hartsfield, Kahaloa, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kila, Olds, Shimizu, Souza voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.
  5. Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1146-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading.
  6. Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 03-10-26.
  7. The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Cochran, Hashem, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Kahaloa, Garcia, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama.
  8. Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Thursday, 03-05-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
  9. Reported from PBS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 191-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
  10. Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Holt excused (1).
  11. The committee on PBS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Belatti, Iwamoto, Hashem, Ichiyama, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
  12. Bill scheduled for decision making on Friday, 02-06-26 11:30AM in conference room 411 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

Showing 12 most recent of 19 actions. Full history

Sources

  1. Open States / Plural (data from the official legislature website)
  2. Official legislature source