---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT."
description: "Removes the ability of the Governor or a mayor to suspend electronic media transmission during a state of emergency or local state of emergency, respectively. (CD1)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 2581"
citation: "Hawaii HB 2581 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Electronic Media Transmission", "Emergency Management", "State of Emergency"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["ICHIYAMA", "POEPOE"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 45
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-23"
last_action: "2024-07-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3e8c05c9-beee-48e5-bb0e-32385186dd19"
source_url: "https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/archives/measure_indiv_Archives.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=2581&year=2024"
source_hash: "baa1f4ec25fd3d8562548ece9f0acf535b27aa8fcfeb89f0def9238e73915d6c"
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 2581 (2024) — RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Removes the ability of the Governor or a mayor to suspend electronic media transmission during a state of emergency or local state of emergency, respectively. (CD1)

## Version chain

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

1. **HB2581** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB2581_.HTM)
2. **HB2581_CD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB2581_CD1_.HTM)
3. **HB2581_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB2581_HD1_.HTM)
4. **HB2581_SD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB2581_SD1_.HTM)

## Votes

- The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. — **4–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- ICHIYAMA — primary (person)
- POEPOE — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-07-09** Act 237, 07/09/2024 (Gov. Msg. No. 1342). `became-law`
- **2024-07-09** Act 237, on 07/09/2024 (Gov. Msg. No. 1342). `became-law`
- **2024-06-21** Notice of intent to veto (Gov. Msg. No. 1158)
- **2024-06-21** Notice of Intent to veto dated 06-21-24 (Gov. Msg. No. 1158)
- **2024-05-02** Transmitted to Governor.
- **2024-05-03** Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 830). `receipt`
- **2024-05-01** Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 798). `receipt`
- **2024-05-01** Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). `passage`
- **2024-05-01** Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none. `passage`
- **2024-04-25** 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-01-24
- **2024-04-25** Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 45-24).
- **2024-04-25** Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-01-24.
- **2024-04-25** Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 45-24) as amended in (CD 1).
- **2024-04-25** The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Rhoads, Elefante; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-04-25** The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Tarnas, Ganaden, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
- **2024-04-24** Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-25-24 1:32PM in conference room 016.
- **2024-04-23** Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 772). `receipt`
- **2024-04-23** Senate Conferees Appointed: Wakai Chair; Rhoads Co-Chair; Elefante.
- **2024-04-18** Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 760). `receipt`
- **2024-04-17** House Conferees Appointed: Ichiyama, Tarnas Co-Chairs; Ganaden, Souza.
- **2024-04-17** Re-referred to WAL, JHA, referral sheet 32 `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-12** Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 731). `receipt`
- **2024-04-11** House disagrees with Senate amendment (s). `amendment-failure`
- **2024-04-09** Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 648) in amended form (SD 1).
- **2024-04-09** Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2024-04-05** 48 Hrs. Notice 04-09-24.
- **2024-04-05** Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3687) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 1).
- **2024-04-04** The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Elefante, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-27** The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 04-04-24 10:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
- **2024-03-15** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to JDC. `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-03-15** Reported from PSM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3102) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to JDC.
- **2024-03-11** The committee(s) on PSM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in PSM were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Elefante, Fukunaga, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-08** The committee(s) on PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-11-24 3:00PM; CR 225 & Videoconference.
- **2024-03-07** Referred to PSM, JDC. `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-07** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2024-03-07** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 417). `introduction, receipt`
- **2024-03-05** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Aiu, Cochran, Garrett, Holt, Kahaloa, Lowen, Nishimoto, Quinlan, Todd excused (9).
- **2024-02-29** Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 680-24) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2024-02-22** The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Takayama, Evslin, Ganaden, Holt, Ilagan, Miyake; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Kong, Souza. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-20** Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Thursday, 02-22-24 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- **2024-02-15** Re-referred to JHA, referral sheet 13 `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-26** Referred to WAL, JHA, referral sheet 3 `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-24** Introduced and Pass First Reading. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2024-01-23** Pending introduction.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3e8c05c9-beee-48e5-bb0e-32385186dd19`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).