HawaiiHawaii’s marine affairs office coordinates ocean industry and conservation work
Hawaii’s Office of Marine Affairs coordinates ocean industry and conservation work, with state funding for one coordinator in fiscal year 2026–2027.
What it does
The Office of Marine Affairs coordinates state plans and agency work on ocean industries, conservation, research, and technology.
A marine affairs coordinator plans projects, helps agencies work together, seeks investment, and reports each year to the governor and legislature.
The Hawaii Technology Development Corporation may use up to $150,000 in fiscal year 2026–2027 to fund one full-time marine affairs coordinator.
The Office of Marine Affairs takes over the advisory committee’s work, staff, and related property; transferred employees keep protections described in the Act.
Argument forA statewide plan could help agencies coordinate ocean research, conservation, and business development across Hawaii.
Argument againstFocusing on projects ready for investment could draw attention toward work that can be commercialized and away from other ocean needs.
More detail
The Office of Marine Affairs coordinates plans and agency work to support Hawaii’s marine industries. Its work includes research, conservation, ocean-based food, tourism, transportation, and marine technology. The office is placed within the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation for administrative purposes only. This Act takes effect July 1, 2026.
The office appoints a marine affairs coordinator to carry out its work and report on implementation. The coordinator works with state agencies, the governor, the legislature, and public and private groups on marine programs and projects. The coordinator is exempt from the state personnel law chapter named in the Act, remains eligible for state employee benefits, and receives a salary set by the office. The Act takes effect July 1, 2026. The coordinator must report annually; no specific due date is stated.
The Hawaii Technology Development Corporation spends up to $150,000 to fund one full-time marine affairs coordinator position. The funding supports the Office of Marine Affairs coordinator position. The money comes from state general revenues and may be less than $150,000 if less is needed. The funding applies to fiscal year 2026–2027; this Act takes effect July 1, 2026.
The Act transfers the advisory committee’s functions, staff, and related property to the Office of Marine Affairs. The transfer covers the governor’s advisory committee on marine affairs and the staff, records, equipment, and other property related to its work. Current committee members continue to serve until later appointments follow the new membership rules. Transferred employees keep their employment status and protections described in the Act, subject to personnel laws. The transfers take effect July 1, 2026.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Jul 7Act 186, 07/06/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1288).Latest
- Jul 7Act 186, on 07/06/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1288).Became Law
- May 8Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888).Minor
- May 8Enrolled to Governor.To Governor
- May 6Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.Major
- Vote recorded Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1. Result: pass.Lower
- May 6Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with Representative(s) Cochran, Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Belatti, Perruso, Pierick, Poepoe voting no (4) and Representative(s) Alcos excused (1).Major
- May 6Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 816).Minor
- May 1Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 11:30AM in Conference Room 411.
- Vote recorded The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. Result: pass.Lower
- Vote recorded The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Upper
- May 1Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 4:31PM in Conference Room 411.
- May 1Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:37 PM; Conference Room 329.
- May 1Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 309.
- May 1The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.Minor
- May 1The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 3 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Hashem.Minor
- May 1Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 226-26).
- May 148 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26.
- May 1Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 226-26) as amended in (CD 1).
- May 1Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-06-26.
- Apr 30Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 8:01AM in conference room 411.
- Apr 28Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-30-26 8:30AM in conference room 411.
- Apr 27Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Gabbard, Kanuha Co-Chairs.
- Apr 27Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 783).Minor
- Apr 23Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 811).Minor
- Apr 22House Conferees Appointed: Ilagan, Hashem, Hussey Co-Chairs; Gedeon.
- Apr 16Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 713).Minor
- Apr 16Senate disagrees with House amendments.Minor
- Apr 16Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 710).Minor
- Apr 14Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 3 with Representative(s) Cochran, Garcia, Iwamoto, Perruso, Poepoe, Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.Passed House
- Vote recorded Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 3. Result: pass.Lower
- Apr 10Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2140-26) as amended in HD 3, recommending passage on Third Reading.
- Apr 10Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 04-14-26.
- Apr 7The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.Minor
- Vote recorded The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Lower
- Apr 2Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Tuesday, 04-07-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- Mar 30Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1519-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.
- Vote recorded Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2. Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 30Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia, Poepoe, Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan excused (4).Minor
- Mar 24The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Morikawa, Ichiyama, Woodson, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto, Poepoe, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti.Minor
- Vote recorded The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 20Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1270-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to WAL.
- Vote recorded Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on WAL. Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 20Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on WAL with Representative(s) Poepoe voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).Minor
- Mar 20Bill scheduled to be heard by WAL on Tuesday, 03-24-26 9:00AM in House conference room 411 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- Mar 18The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.Minor
- Vote recorded The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 12Pass First ReadingMinor
- Mar 12Referred to ECD, WAL, FIN, referral sheet 17Minor
- Mar 12Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Wednesday, 03-18-26 8:30AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- Mar 10Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.Passed Senate
- Vote recorded Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 10Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 318) in amended form (SD 1).Minor
- Mar 6Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2970) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading.
- Mar 6One Day Notice 03-10-26.
- Mar 4The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.Minor
- Vote recorded The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 2The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-04-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
- Feb 19Reported from EDT/AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2436) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
- Feb 19Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.Minor
- Feb 13The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga, Kim.Minor
- Vote recorded The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Upper
- Vote recorded The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 13The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Richards, DeCoite, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.Minor
- Feb 9The committee(s) on EDT/AEN has rescheduled its public hearing to 02-13-26 3:01PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.
- Feb 8The committee(s) on EDT/AEN deleted the measure from the public hearing scheduled on 02-09-26 3:05PM; CR 224 & Videoconference.
- Feb 6The committee(s) on EDT/AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-09-26 3:05PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.
- Jan 30Referred to EDT/AEN, WAM.Minor
- Jan 26Passed First Reading.Minor
- Jan 23Introduced.Introduced
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