---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION."
description: "Prohibits the suspension or expulsion of children participating in the Executive Office on Early Learning's Public Prekindergarten Program, except under limited circumstances. (SD2)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2020 Regular Session"
identifier: "HB 1346"
citation: "Hawaii HB 1346 (2020 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Suspension or Expulsion of Public Prekindergarten Students", "Prohibited"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brower", "C. LEE", "DECOITE", "GATES", "ICHIYAMA", "KITAGAWA", "MIZUNO", "MORIKAWA", "Matayoshi", "San Buenaventura", "TAKUMI", "TARNAS", "TODD", "WILDBERGER", "WOODSON"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 41
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-01-24"
last_action: "2020-09-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c822bdee-844b-47a9-9bd6-512a0150a3c8"
source_url: "http://capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives8-12.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1346&year=2020"
source_hash: "64d3b2d882af21f03e0a5a0321ff38f5585ea3d70287512134ec0334689418cc"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-hi"]
---

# Hawaii HB 1346 (2020 Regular Session) — RELATING TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.

Prohibits the suspension or expulsion of children participating in the Executive Office on Early Learning's Public Prekindergarten Program, except under limited circumstances. (SD2)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB1346** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2020/bills/HB1346_.HTM)
2. **HB1346_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2020/bills/HB1346_HD1_.HTM)
3. **HB1346_HD2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2020/bills/HB1346_HD2_.HTM)
4. **HB1346_SD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2020/bills/HB1346_SD1_.HTM)
5. **HB1346_SD2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2020/bills/HB1346_SD2_.HTM)

## Votes

- The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- The committees on LHE recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **15–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brower — primary (person)
- C. LEE — primary (person)
- DECOITE — primary (person)
- GATES — primary (person)
- ICHIYAMA — primary (person)
- KITAGAWA — primary (person)
- MIZUNO — primary (person)
- MORIKAWA — primary (person)
- Matayoshi — primary (person)
- San Buenaventura — primary (person)
- TAKUMI — primary (person)
- TARNAS — primary (person)
- TODD — primary (person)
- WILDBERGER — primary (person)
- WOODSON — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-01-24** Introduced and Pass First Reading. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-01-28** Referred to LHE, JUD, FIN, referral sheet 6 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Bill scheduled to be heard by LHE on Thursday, 01-31-19 2:15PM in House conference room 309.
- **2019-01-31** The committees on LHE recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, Hashem, Perruso, DeCoite, Johanson, D. Kobayashi, Ohno, Quinlan, Tarnas, Okimoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Tokioka. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-06** Reported from LHE (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 66) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JUD.
- **2019-02-06** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JUD with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Nakamura, Thielen excused (2). `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Bill scheduled to be heard by JUD on Wednesday, 02-13-19 2:01PM in House conference room 325.
- **2019-02-13** The committee(s) on JUD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 02-14-19.
- **2019-02-13** Bill scheduled for decision making on Thursday, 02-14-19 2:00PM in conference room 325.
- **2019-02-14** The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) C. Lee, San Buenaventura, Brower, Creagan, Lowen, McKelvey, Morikawa, Say, Takayama, Yamane, Thielen; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-15** Reported from JUD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 768) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.
- **2019-02-15** Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Aquino, DeCoite, Nakamura, Quinlan, Thielen excused (5).
- **2019-02-22** Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Tuesday, 02-26-19 12:30PM in House conference room 308.
- **2019-02-26** The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Luke, Cullen, Eli, Gates, Hashimoto, Holt, Kitagawa, B. Kobayashi, Matayoshi, Nakamura, Nishimoto, Todd, Wildberger, Yamashita, McDermott; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-01** Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1101), recommending passage on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-01** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) DeCoite excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2019-03-05** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 283). `introduction`
- **2019-03-05** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-05** Referred to EDU, JDC. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-07** Re-Referred to EDU/JDC, WAM.
- **2019-03-15** The committee(s) on EDU/JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-18-19 3:15PM in conference room 229.
- **2019-03-18** 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) Kidani, Kanuha, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Kim ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Dela Cruz. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-18** The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) K. Rhoads, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Kim ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Wakai, Gabbard. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-20** Reported from EDU/JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1294) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
- **2019-03-20** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
- **2019-12-01** Carried over to 2020 Regular Session.
- **2020-03-14** The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-17-20 2:16PM in conference room 211.
- **2020-03-16** The hearing on this measure has been cancelled until further notice.
- **2020-06-26** The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 06-30-20 10:15AM in conference room Auditorium.
- **2020-06-30** The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Keith-Agaran, English, Inouye, K. Kahele, Kanuha, Kidani, Moriwaki, Shimabukuro, Taniguchi, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Riviere ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Harimoto. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-07-02** Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3764) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
- **2020-07-02** 48 Hrs. Notice 07-06-20.
- **2020-07-06** Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Kim . Noes, 1 (Senator(s) Fevella). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2020-07-06** Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 566) in amended form (SD 2).
- **2020-07-08** Received notice of House intent to agree to the amendments proposed by the Senate (Hse. Com. No. 421).
- **2020-07-10** House agrees to Senate amendment(s).
- **2020-07-10** Passed Final Reading as amended in SD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Ohno excused (1).
- **2020-07-10** Received notice of House agreement and passage on Final Reading (Hse. Com. No. 425).
- **2020-07-10** Transmitted to Governor.
- **2020-09-15** Act 024, 09/15/2020 (Gov. Msg. No. 1129). `executive-signature`
- **2020-09-15** Act 024, on 09/15/2020 (Gov. Msg. No. 1129). `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c822bdee-844b-47a9-9bd6-512a0150a3c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).