SB2125 Senate Bill

Passed

2026-02-25

Relating To Teacher Licensing.

Permits the Department of Education to hire unlicensed individuals as teachers on an emergency basis for five, rather than three, years. Requires that unlicensed teachers hired on an emergency basis make continuous and verifiable progress toward satisfying licensing requirements. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill Details

State

Hawaii

Session

2026 Regular Session

Chamber

Senate

Committee

Finance

Official Source

www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_ind...

LegiScan

View on LegiScan

Action History

2026-03-30 H Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).

2026-03-30 H Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1463-26), recommending referral to FIN.

2026-03-24 H The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Kong; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

2026-03-20 H Bill scheduled to be heard by LAB on Tuesday, 03-24-26 9:30AM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

2026-03-20 H Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on LAB with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

2026-03-20 H Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1289-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to LAB.

2026-03-19 H The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Muraoka; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

2026-03-17 H Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Thursday, 03-19-26 2:00PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

2026-03-10 H Referred to EDN, LAB, FIN, referral sheet 15

2026-03-05 H Pass First Reading

2026-02-25 H Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 15) in amended form (SD 1).

2026-02-25 S Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Kidani). Transmitted to House.

2026-02-23 S 48 Hrs. Notice 02-25-26.

2026-02-23 S Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1).

2026-02-23 S Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2705) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.

2026-02-05 S Re-Referred to EDU.

2026-02-04 S The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Kidani, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga.

2026-01-30 S The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-04-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

2026-01-22 S Referred to EDU, WAM.

2026-01-21 S Introduced and passed First Reading.

2026-01-14 S Pending Introduction.

Votes

2026-02-04 Senate Education: Passed, With Amendments Yea: 4 Nay: 0

Committee Referrals

2026-01-22 S Education

2026-03-10 H Education

2026-03-20 H Labor & Public Employment

2026-03-30 H Finance

Bill Text Versions

2026-01-15 Introduced

2026-02-23 Amended

2026-03-19 Amended

Subjects

Teacher Licensing Emergency Hire Exemptions Licensure Progress DOE