republic-os/legislation/us/states/hi/2026/sb-2876.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO NATURAL HAIR BRAIDING."
description: "Beginning 1/1/2028, requires natural hair braiders to be registered, rather than licensed, under the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. By 11/1/2026, requires the Board to adopt rules prescribing the approved courses or programs that cover sanitation, health, and safety practices required for natural hair braiding registration. (CD1)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 2876"
citation: "Hawaii SB 2876 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Board of Barbering and Cosmetology", "Exemption from Licensure", "Health", "Natural Hair Braiding", "Registration", "Sanitation", "and Safety Practices"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["DECOITE", "DECORTE", "HASHIMOTO", "KIM", "MCKELVEY", "RICHARDS"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 38
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-23"
last_action: "2026-06-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a3b1f5ad-bee3-4cac-9bca-e12d37eeb3cd"
source_url: "https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2876&year=2026"
source_hash: "029e693e5d83ef9a5d263d87795a5c6967c9835ee4fcf61b519d21effa588f7d"
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 2876 (2026) — RELATING TO NATURAL HAIR BRAIDING.

Beginning 1/1/2028, requires natural hair braiders to be registered, rather than licensed, under the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. By 11/1/2026, requires the Board to adopt rules prescribing the approved courses or programs that cover sanitation, health, and safety practices required for natural hair braiding registration. (CD1)

## Version chain

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

1. **SB2876** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2876_.HTM)
2. **SB2876_CD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2876_CD1_.HTM)
3. **SB2876_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2876_HD1_.HTM)

## Votes

- The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Third Reading. — **24–0** (pass) · upper
- The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. — **3–0** (pass) · lower
- The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- DECOITE — primary (person)
- DECORTE — primary (person)
- HASHIMOTO — primary (person)
- KIM — primary (person)
- MCKELVEY — primary (person)
- RICHARDS — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-06-04** Act 074, on 06/03/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1174). `became-law`
- **2026-06-04** Act 074, 06/03/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1174). `became-law`
- **2026-05-08** Enrolled to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-08** Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888). `receipt`
- **2026-05-06** Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 816). `receipt`
- **2026-05-06** Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). `passage`
- **2026-05-06** Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none. `passage`
- **2026-04-29** Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-06-26.
- **2026-04-29** Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 91-26) as amended in (CD 1).
- **2026-04-29** 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26.
- **2026-04-29** Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 91-26).
- **2026-04-29** The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 3 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
- **2026-04-29** 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) Lamosao, Keohokalole, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-29** Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 873). `receipt`
- **2026-04-28** Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Wednesday, 04-29-26 3:45PM in conference room 224.
- **2026-04-28** House Conferees Appointed: Matayoshi Chair; Grandinetti, Pierick.
- **2026-04-23** Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 740). `receipt`
- **2026-04-23** Senate Conferees Appointed: Lamosao Chair; Keohokalole Co-Chair; Awa.
- **2026-04-16** Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 710). `receipt`
- **2026-04-16** Senate disagrees with House amendments. `amendment-failure`
- **2026-04-16** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 711). `introduction, receipt`
- **2026-04-14** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2026-04-09** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).
- **2026-04-09** Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1970-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2026-03-31** The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Iwamoto, Kong, Marten, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Ichiyama, Lowen. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-27** Bill scheduled to be heard by CPC on Tuesday, 03-31-26 2:05PM in House conference room 329 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- **2026-03-10** Referred to CPC, referral sheet 16 `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-10** Pass First Reading `reading-1`
- **2026-03-06** Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 83). `introduction, receipt`
- **2026-03-06** Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2026-03-05** One Day Notice 03-06-26.
- **2026-03-05** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading. `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05** Reported from CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2799) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2026-02-25** The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Lamosao, McKelvey, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-20** The committee(s) on CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-25-26 9:32AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
- **2026-01-30** Referred to CPN. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-26** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-23** Introduced. `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a3b1f5ad-bee3-4cac-9bca-e12d37eeb3cd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).