republic-os/legislation/us/states/hi/2019-regular-session/sb-144.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO LOBBYISTS."
description: "Removes restriction on access to transcripts from public contested hearings. Removes statutory remnants from when violations of the lobbyist law resulted in criminal penalties. Allows the state ethics commission to assess an administrative fine pursuant to a settlement agreement. (SB144 HD1)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2019 Regular Session"
identifier: "SB 144"
citation: "Hawaii SB 144 (2019 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["State Ethics Commission Package", "Transcripts", "Lobbyists", "Fines"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["KOUCHI (Introduced by request of another party)"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 39
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-01-18"
last_action: "2019-06-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7b895f7c-5999-4206-8625-ca8fba151f8b"
source_url: "http://capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives8-12.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=144&year=2019"
source_hash: "9dc60b102ac5848e4f6f44d25603df56b5a396440eabe851ccfc7af33838132a"
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 SB 144 (2019 Regular Session) — RELATING TO LOBBYISTS.

Removes restriction on access to transcripts from public contested hearings. Removes statutory remnants from when violations of the lobbyist law resulted in criminal penalties. Allows the state ethics commission to assess an administrative fine pursuant to a settlement agreement. (SB144 HD1)

## Version chain

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

1. **SB144** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/SB144_.HTM)
2. **SB144_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/SB144_HD1_.HTM)
3. **SB144_SD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/SB144_SD1_.HTM)

## Votes

- The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **13–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- KOUCHI (Introduced by request of another party) — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-18** Introduced. `introduction`
- **2019-01-18** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2019-01-22** Referred to JDC, WAM. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-01** The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-07-19 9:00AM in conference room 016.
- **2019-02-07** 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) K. Rhoads, Wakai, Gabbard, Kim; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-13** Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 256) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
- **2019-02-13** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
- **2019-02-15** The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-20-19 10:05AM in conference room 211.
- **2019-02-20** The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Keith-Agaran, English, Inouye, K. Kahele, Kanuha, Kidani, Moriwaki, Shimabukuro, Taniguchi, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Harimoto, Riviere. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-01** Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 852) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
- **2019-03-01** 48 Hrs. Notice 03-05-19.
- **2019-03-05** Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Harimoto). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2019-03-05** Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 54) in amended form (SD 2). `introduction`
- **2019-03-07** Pass First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-07** Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 27 `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-08** Bill scheduled to be heard by JUD on Monday, 03-11-19 2:00PM in House conference room 325.
- **2019-03-11** The committee(s) on JUD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 03-18-19.
- **2019-03-11** Bill scheduled for decision making on Monday, 03-18-19 2:00PM in conference room 325.
- **2019-03-18** The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) C. Lee, San Buenaventura, Brower, Creagan, Morikawa, Say, Takayama, Thielen; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Lowen, McKelvey, Yamane. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-21** Reported from JUD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1516) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
- **2019-03-21** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Belatti, Cabanilla Arakawa, Holt, Tokioka, Yamane excused (5). `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-25** Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 03-28-19 3:00PM in House conference room 308.
- **2019-03-28** The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 13 Ayes: Representative(s) Luke, Cullen, Eli, Gates, Hashimoto, Kitagawa, B. Kobayashi, Matayoshi, Nakamura, Nishimoto, Wildberger, Yamashita, McDermott; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Holt, Todd. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-04** Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2078), recommending passage on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-04** Deferred one day 04-05-19.
- **2019-04-05** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Eli, Mizuno, Nishimoto excused (3). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2019-04-09** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 642). `introduction`
- **2019-04-09** Senate disagrees with House amendments.
- **2019-04-09** Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 885).
- **2019-04-15** House Conferees Appointed: C. Lee, Matayoshi Co-Chairs; Thielen.
- **2019-04-15** Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 809).
- **2019-04-17** Reconsideration of action taken on 04-09-19 in disagreeing to the House amendments.
- **2019-04-17** Senate agrees with House amendments. Placed on the calendar for Final Reading on 04-18-19.
- **2019-04-17** One Day Notice 04-18-19.
- **2019-04-18** Passed Final Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.
- **2019-04-18** Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 915).
- **2019-04-18** Enrolled to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-25** Act 109, on 06/21/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1211). `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-25** Act 109, 06/21/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1211). `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7b895f7c-5999-4206-8625-ca8fba151f8b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).