republic-os/legislation/us/states/hi/2019-regular-session/hb-1272.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS."
description: "Authorizes pharmacies to accept the return of any prescription drug for disposal via collection receptacles or mail-back programs; prohibits pharmacies from redispensing returned prescription drugs or accepting returned prescription drugs in exchange for cash or credit; requires the pharmacist-in-charge to ensure that only authorized reverse distributors acquire prescription drugs collected via collection receptacles or mail-back programs. (SD1)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2019 Regular Session"
identifier: "HB 1272"
citation: "Hawaii HB 1272 (2019 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pharmacies", "Prescription Drugs", "Return for Disposal"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["BELATTI", "BROWER", "C. LEE", "CABANILLA ARAKAWA", "CACHOLA", "DeCoite", "GATES", "HAR", "HASHIMOTO", "LOWEN", "MATAYOSHI", "MIZUNO", "MORIKAWA", "McKelvey", "NAKASHIMA", "OHNO", "QUINLAN", "SAY", "San Buenaventura", "TAKAYAMA", "TAKUMI", "TARNAS", "TOKIOKA", "WARD", "WILDBERGER"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 35
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2019-01-23"
last_action: "2019-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a0ba2755-d3cc-4259-b804-2fc9668c4f5e"
source_url: "http://capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives8-12.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1272&year=2019"
source_hash: "ca8b2a4286f7871149bb3325cdbee1d487d5f6e4abe988fcda3c5241f2af60c9"
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 1272 (2019 Regular Session) — RELATING TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.

Authorizes pharmacies to accept the return of any prescription drug for disposal via collection receptacles or mail-back programs; prohibits pharmacies from redispensing returned prescription drugs or accepting returned prescription drugs in exchange for cash or credit; requires the pharmacist-in-charge to ensure that only authorized reverse distributors acquire prescription drugs collected via collection receptacles or mail-back programs. (SD1)

## Version chain

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

1. **HB1272** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/HB1272_.HTM)
2. **HB1272_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/HB1272_HD1_.HTM)

## Votes

- The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- The committees on HLT recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee(s) on CPH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **6–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- BELATTI — primary (person)
- BROWER — primary (person)
- C. LEE — primary (person)
- CABANILLA ARAKAWA — primary (person)
- CACHOLA — primary (person)
- DeCoite — primary (person)
- GATES — primary (person)
- HAR — primary (person)
- HASHIMOTO — primary (person)
- LOWEN — primary (person)
- MATAYOSHI — primary (person)
- MIZUNO — primary (person)
- MORIKAWA — primary (person)
- McKelvey — primary (person)
- NAKASHIMA — primary (person)
- OHNO — primary (person)
- QUINLAN — primary (person)
- SAY — primary (person)
- San Buenaventura — primary (person)
- TAKAYAMA — primary (person)
- TAKUMI — primary (person)
- TARNAS — primary (person)
- TOKIOKA — primary (person)
- WARD — primary (person)
- WILDBERGER — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-23** Pending introduction.
- **2019-01-24** Introduced and Pass First Reading. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-01-28** Referred to HLT, JUD, referral sheet 6 `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-07** Bill scheduled to be heard by HLT on Tuesday, 02-12-19 9:00AM in House conference room 329.
- **2019-02-12** The committees on HLT recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Mizuno, B. Kobayashi, Belatti, San Buenaventura, Say, Tokioka, Ward; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Nakamura. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-14** Reported from HLT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 425) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JUD.
- **2019-02-14** 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) Aquino, Nakamura excused (2). `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** Bill scheduled to be heard by JUD on Tuesday, 02-19-19 2:05PM in House conference room 325.
- **2019-02-19** The committee(s) on JUD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 02-20-19.
- **2019-02-19** Bill scheduled for decision making on Wednesday, 02-20-19 2:00PM in conference room 325.
- **2019-02-20** The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) C. Lee, San Buenaventura, Brower, Creagan, Lowen, Morikawa, Say, Takayama, Thielen; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) McKelvey, Yamane. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-28** Reported from JUD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 887), recommending passage on Third Reading.
- **2019-02-28** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) DeCoite excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2019-03-01** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 111). `introduction`
- **2019-03-01** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-05** Referred to CPH. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-08** The committee(s) on CPH has scheduled a public hearing on 03-13-19 9:00AM in conference room 229.
- **2019-03-13** The committee(s) on CPH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPH were as follows: 6 Aye(s): Senator(s) Baker, S. Chang, J.Keohokalole, Ruderman, L. Thielen, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Nishihara. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-03** Reported from CPH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1779) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2019-04-03** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1).
- **2019-04-03** 48 Hrs. Notice 04-05-19.
- **2019-04-05** Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2019-04-05** Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 682) in amended form (SD 1).
- **2019-04-09** House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
- **2019-04-11** Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 719).
- **2019-04-17** Senate Conferees Appointed: Baker Chair; S. Chang, Fevella.
- **2019-04-17** Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 909).
- **2019-04-24** Reconsideration of action taken on 04-09-19.
- **2019-04-25** Received notice of House reconsideration of action in disagreeing to the amendments proposed by the Senate (Hse. Com. No. 861).
- **2019-04-25** House agrees to Senate amendment(s).
- **2019-04-25** Passed Final Reading as amended in SD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cachola, Thielen excused (2).
- **2019-04-26** Received notice of House agreement and passage on Final Reading (Hse. Com. No. 871).
- **2019-04-26** Transmitted to Governor.
- **2019-07-05** Act 183, on 07/02/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1285). `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-05** Act 183, 07/02/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1285). `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a0ba2755-d3cc-4259-b804-2fc9668c4f5e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).