Legislation

Clarifies the types of events that constitute disasters and emergencies for the purposes of emergency management. Establishes the Hawaiʻi Community Resilience Hub Program within the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency to support the development of community-based resilience hubs across the State and leverage federal, philanthropic, and private-sector funding for disaster preparedness and climate resilience. Requires the Agency to identify locations on each island that can be used as state disaster response and mitigation hubs when a state of emergency is declared. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates moneys.

Appropriates funds to the Office of the Public Defender for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Deputy Public Defender III position.

Restructures the conveyance tax to a marginal rate system for the sale of properties with residential use, adjusts the tax for multifamily properties to reflect value on a per-unit basis, and applies a cost-of-living adjustment to conveyance tax rates. Establishes the Transit-Oriented Development Infrastructure Subaccount within the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund. Allocates a portion of conveyance tax collections to the Transit-Oriented Development Infrastructure Subaccount and Hawaiian Home Lands Infrastructure and Housing Special Fund. Establishes and appropriates funds out of the Hawaiian Home Lands Infrastructure and Housing Special Fund.

Establishes factors under which officers may arrest and detain persons without a warrant for petty misdemeanors and violations, and requires officers to document the justification for the arrests. Amends the circumstances under which officers may issue citations in lieu of arrest. Requires officers to issue citations in lieu of arrest for certain petty misdemeanors and violations, unless public safety or flight risks are present or the alleged offense involves operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant or the abuse of family or household members. Requires the Judiciary to promulgate a standardized citation form and updates the required information for citations. Requires the Criminal Justice Research Institute to submit reports.

Requires the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incrementally return committed felons incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional institutions to in-state correctional facilities. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Prohibits the Hawaiʻi National Guard from deploying to assist federal troops, federal law enforcement, or the national guard of any other state operating in Hawaiʻi when the Governor has objected to the deployments.

Establishes a protocol for compassionate release for certain ill or seriously debilitated incarcerated persons. Establishes a temporary working group within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop initial administrative rules to implement the protocol.

Prohibits discrimination based on: (1) The perception that a person possesses certain characteristics; (2) The perception that a person is associated with a person who possesses, or is perceived to possess, certain characteristics; or (3) The intersection or combination of two or more specified characteristics in relation to a person.

Establishes that fines for pedestrian violations under chapter 291C, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes, shall not exceed $25. Requires state and county agencies to revise applicable schedules of fines, rules, and procedures to comply with the monetary limit.