Hawaiʻi Legislative History Research

Identify the act and the year when the pertinent language was adopted.
The bracketed source note at the end of a statute indicates the enabling/amending acts and *each compilation where the statute may be found.
L_ _ _ _ = year law enacted
am L_ _ _ _ = year law amended
c = Act
am = amended
CC = Civil Code
PC = Penal Code
RL = Revised Laws of Hawaii (1905, 1915, 1925, 1935*, 1945, 1955; *1935 may omit reference to previous compilations of a statute if no amendment occurred after the original enactment/last amendment/last compilation)
HRS = Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (1968, 1976, 1985, 1993, and by Supplement)

Locate the Act.
Go to the Session Laws of Hawaii volume for the year when the act was passed. Acts are arranged in numerical order and will cite to a House Bill (HB) or Senate Bill (SB). From 1935-1953, check the table of contents for the page number of each act. An act may have a preamble which states purpose of the act.

Track the history of the bill through enactment.
After locating the bill no., go to both the House Journal and Senate Journal. At the back are tables, at times, labeled as History of Bills. Check each of the pages cited alongside the bill no. to find action on the bill. Among those pages will be the text of committee reports or references to the report no. For before 1951 in the House Journal and before 1955 in the Senate Journal, the text of the reports may be included in the daily proceedings. Review all relevant reports for stated intent/purpose. At a minimum, there will be one House and one Senate standing committee report. The other cited pages may include floor remarks, and references to special reports and testimony.

Tips/Finding aids for locating legislative committee reports:

• 1901+ in print at the Supreme Court Law Library.
• Pre-1901 refer to the Hawai‘i State Archives.
• 1901-1961 use the tracking method suggested in step 4 above.
• 1962-1983 use the Digest and Index of Laws Enacted. Acts are published in summary format and numerical order. Cites to standing committee reports and conference committee reports, if any.
• Hawai‘i State Legislature website
• Session Laws of Hawaii available 1959+. 1984+ includes Committee Reports on Measures Enacted, a table listing committee report numbers.
• Archives for 1999+.
• House Journal from 1971 to current
• Senate Journal from 1975 to current.
• Beginning with 1969 Legislature, a bill which did not pass in the first session (odd-numbered year) of a 2-year legislature may be carried over to the second session (even-numbered year). Committee reports will be found in the journal for the year when the report was issued out of committee.
• Consult Kānāwai (HSLLS online public access catalog) for special reports
• Hawai‘i State Archives for pre-2008 testimony and Hawai‘i State Legislature for 2008+ testimony
• How to research constitutional, legislative and statutory history in Hawaii, 3d ed., by Richard F. Kahle, Jr. Legislative Reference Bureau, 2001. [RefRm KFH421.5 L37 A25 2001]

View Printable PDF version