2026-09-10 · Hawaii · Legislation · Did not pass

Hawaii’s carryover rule is asymmetric, and the asymmetry just wiped out two years of condominium legislation.¹

Article III, section 15 of the Hawaii Constitution: “Any bill pending at the final adjournment of a regular session in an odd-numbered year shall carry over with the same status to the next regular session. Before the carried-over bill is enacted, it shall pass at least one reading in the house in which the bill originated.”

What that means in practice

• Bills alive at sine die of the 2025 session carried into 2026 with the same status — the status feeds show a literal “12/8/25 … Carried over to 2026 Regular Session” entry.
• Bills pending at sine die of the 2026 session — May 8, 2026 — are dead. There is no carryover out of an even year.
• The 33rd Legislature ends with the November 2026 election. The 2027 session opens the 34th Legislature, and every measure must be introduced as a brand-new bill with a new number.

The 2026 deadlines that did the killing

Bill introduction cutoff January 28; first decking March 6; first crossover March 12; second lateral March 30; second decking April 10; second crossover April 16; final decking of non-fiscal bills April 29; final decking of fiscal bills May 1; sine die May 8.²

Several condominium bills died not on the merits but by a day: one conference committee was set to reconvene on April 30, one day past the April 29 non-fiscal final-decking deadline.

1. Hawaii Constitution, article III, section 15 (carryover of bills) ↩
2. Hawaii State Legislature, 2026 Session Calendar (deadlines and sine die) ↩
3. Legislative Reference Bureau Public Access Room, Governor's Timeline — 2026 Regular Session ↩