{"id":79,"date":"2026-05-14T22:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=79"},"modified":"2026-05-14T22:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:36:50","slug":"legislative-session-adjourns-with-passage-of-tax-relief-a-song-and-farewells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=79","title":{"rendered":"Legislative session adjourns with passage of tax relief, a song and farewells"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hawaii lawmakers ended their 2026 legislative session Friday with final passage of a highly consequential and perhaps most heavily negotiated bill this year, which stood to uphold or repeal state income tax relief for the next five years.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this team\u2019: HAAS surfing opens eyes at states<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the House and Senate also bid farewell to four colleagues, who aren\u2019t seeking reelection, as well as to a decorated local boxer who led workouts at the state Capitol and maintained order on the Senate chamber floor for 47 years.<\/p>\n

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Lawmakers passed the tax relief measure, Senate Bill 3125, after it received wholesale praise in the Senate in contrast to considerable reservations and dissent in the House.<\/p>\n

The bill preserves scheduled income tax cuts from 2027 to 2031 for about 90% of Hawaii households, and increases the tax savings for households in the lowest two tax brackets compared with what the Legislature delivered in 2024 under an eight-year tax cut package representing the biggest tax reduction in Hawaii\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee who drove hard negotiations with his House counterpart to reach a compromise draft of the bill, told colleagues on the Senate chamber floor that a family of four earning $100,000 will save $788 by 2031 on top of already delivered tax relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s real savings day to day,\u201d he said before the Senate voted 24-0 to pass the bill.<\/p>\n

To pay for some of the savings, a new higher top tax bracket with a marginal 13% rate was created for joint filers earning over $1 million, heads of household earning over $750,000 and single filers earning over $500,000.<\/p>\n

SB 3125 also repeals seven commercial tax credit programs, including one for the rooftop solar industry, over the next five years estimated to save nearly $1.2 billion over the next six years as a way to offset lower income tax revenue and cover anticipated higher state expenses to supplant federal funding cuts.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Green in January proposed SB 3125 to repeal tax cuts from 2027 to 2031, saying it was necessary to preserve $1.8 billion in state revenue and partly offset nearly $3 billion in anticipated state revenue losses due to recent federal government actions.<\/p>\n

Rep. Chris Todd, House Finance Committee chair, agreed to the compromise draft of the bill with Dela Cruz after trying to preserve some of the commercial tax credits in tandem with most tax relief, and urged his House colleagues to pass the bill Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this bill honors the intent to dramatically reduce income taxes for local residents and give substantial relief to our middle class,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Todd (D, Hilo-Keaau-\u00adAinaloa) also said that if the state\u2019s budgetary outlook improves then he will seek a way to restructure or preserve some of the commercial tax credits.<\/p>\n

The House voted 45-6 to pass SB 3125, and eight votes in favor of the bill were cast with reservations.<\/p>\n

Rep. Nicole Lowen, chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, voted for the bill but criticized it for curtailing tax credits that are available for households installing rooftop solar systems in each of the next four years before a complete repeal in 2031.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m struggling to understand why we would take the power that we have as a Legislature and use it to kill jobs and make the cost of electricity higher for people when the House had solutions on the table that could have achieved the same savings without causing this kind of damage,\u201d Lowen (D, Kailua-Kona-Honokohau-\u00adPuuanahulu) said ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChanges to the renewable energy technology income tax credit in this bill risk reinforcing the perception that Hawaii is an unpredictable and difficult place to do business, even in the industries we claim to support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dela Cruz (D, Mililani- Wahiawa-Whitmore Village) told fellow senators that the renewable energy tax credits have helped Hawaii achieve the highest per-capita use of rooftop solar in the country with subsidies totaling $1 billion over the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good business model should not rely on endless state subsidies to survive,\u201d he said. \u201cThe tax credit is long overdue for reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate President Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) said SB 3125 and the state budget bill were very challenging issues that dominated much of this year\u2019s legislative session. He said federal funding uncertainties made for particularly hard work, and prompted the Legislature to recover state appropriations from vacant positions, special funds and other areas to avoid Green\u2019s planned tax relief repeal.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Nadine Nakamura (D, Hanalei-\u00adPrinceville-Kapaa) choked up while speaking at the end of Friday\u2019s House floor session, and said afterward, \u201cI think it\u2019s just a sense of relief that we were challenged in so many ways this session with the two Kona-low storms and the devastation that brought on so many communities around our state. We got challenged by the federal cuts, the partial government\u2019s shutdown. All of these things and then this war in Iran that is impacting every pocketbook for our residents here. So, a lot of challenges on the table coming into the session and during the session.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of tradition on the legislative session\u2019s last day, known as Sine Die, is for House and Senate members to gather in a circle and sing \u201cHawai\u2018i Aloha\u201d while holding hands. This year, House members visited the Senate chamber floor to perform the display of unity.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s session also devoted some time to deliver well wishes to colleagues who aren\u2019t seeking another term in elections later this year.<\/p>\n

In the House, three members are departing \u2014 Reps. Della Au Belatti (D, Makiki-\u00adPunchbowl), who after 20 years in the Legislature is running for a seat in Congress; Elijah Pierick (R, Royal Kunia-Waipahu-\u00adHonouliuli), who is leaving after four years, and Jackson Sayama (D, Wilhelmina Rise-Maunalani Heights-St. Louis Heights), who said he is pursuing a new chapter in public service after six years in the House. In the other chamber, Sen. Karl Rhoads (D, Nuuanu-Downtown-\u00adIwilei) is retiring after 20 years split between the House and Senate.<\/p>\n

Also retiring from work in the Senate is Ben Villaflor, who became a professional boxer shy of his 14th birthday and won a junior world boxing title in 1972 a year after he moved to Hawaii from the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Villaflor, 73, is retiring as the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and he attested to never having laid a forceful hand on anyone to maintain order in the Senate despite some disruptive events.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one would challenge our Sergeant at Arms,\u201d said Sen. Les Ihara (D, Palolo-\u00adKaimuki-Moiliili), who noted that Villaflor once had to eject senators from the chamber, including future Gov. Ben Cayetano who at the time was one of several dissidents staging a filibuster.<\/p>\n

Villaflor, who led boxing workouts for lawmakers and others, became Senate Sergeant at Arms in 1979 and was roundly praised for being an incredibly sweet and helpful person at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the members, thank you,\u201d Kouchi said. \u201cThe class with which you carry yourself \u2026 and your humility and kindness won\u2019t be forgotten.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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