The People's Ledger
← All Hawaii bills

SB732Introduced in the Senate

Relating To The Film Industry.

Engrossed

Introduced by Lynn Decoite, District 7

What does this bill do?

Plain-English breakdown

Writing a plain-English summary of this bill… this can take a few seconds the first time.

Official description

Requires counties to waive permitting fees for certain film activity. Exempts entertainment payroll companies from the GET. Repeals an income tax exemption for persons engaged in the business of motion picture and television film production for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2023. Amends the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit by providing an additional credit to qualified productions with a workforce of at least eighty percent local hires; requiring productions to contact all local labor unions servicing Hawaii's film industry to qualify for the credit; requiring qualified production costs of a taxpayer that exceed $1,000,000 to be certified by a CPA, rather than via tax opinion; increasing the aggregate cap amount on credits allowed in any given year, ramped down by one-sixth over five years beginning on 1/1/2028; and including broadcast and streaming platform productions under the credit. Applies the GET rate for manufacturers to productions. Exempts from the GET amounts received by a motion picture project employer from a client equal to amounts that are disbursed by the motion picture project employer for employee wages, salaries, payroll taxes, insurance premiums, and employment benefits and payments to loan-out companies. Repeals certain tax exemptions and the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit on 1/1/2033. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Where it stands

Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).

April 2, 2026

How did lawmakers vote?

SenateStage: Senate Ways and Means: Passed, With Amendments · February 26, 2025

13

Yes

0

No

0

Absent or Not Voting

13 senators recorded in this Senate vote. Colors show vote categories only, not whether a vote was good or bad.

See how each senator voted

SenatorDistrictVote
Lorraine Inouye1Yes
Dru Kanuha3Yes
Troy Hashimoto5Yes
Lynn Decoite7Yes
Sharon Moriwaki12Yes
Donna Kim14Yes
Glenn Wakai15Yes
Brandon Elefante16Yes
Donovan Cruz17Yes
Michelle Kidani18Yes

Bill history

  1. Introduced.

  2. Passed First Reading.

  3. Referred to EDT, WAM.

  4. The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-04-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

  5. The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga, Kim, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

  6. Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 216) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

  7. Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

  8. The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-26-25 10:03AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

  9. The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

  10. Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 922) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).

  11. 48 Hrs. Notice 03-04-25.

  12. Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

  13. Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 187) in amended form (SD 2).

  14. Pass First Reading

  15. Referred to ECD, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 19

  16. Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Wednesday, 03-12-25 10:00AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  17. The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Todd, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.

  18. Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1237) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

  19. Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Holt, Iwamoto, Ward excused (4).

  20. Re-referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 23

  21. Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Wednesday, 04-02-25 3:30PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  22. The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

  23. Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2015) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading.

  24. Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 04-08-25.

  25. Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Marten excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

  26. Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 654).

  27. Senate disagrees with House amendments.

  28. Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 779).

  29. Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Kim, DeCorte.

  30. Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 863).

  31. House Conferees Appointed: Ilagan, Yamashita Co-Chairs; Matsumoto.

  32. Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 809).

  33. Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-25-25 8:15AM; Conference Room 411.

  34. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 11:40 AM; Conference Room 411.

  35. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 2:00 PM; Conference Room 411.

  36. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 3:00 PM; Conference Room 411.

  37. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 4:40 PM; Conference Room 411.

  38. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 5:46 PM; Conference Room 225.

  39. Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

  40. Senate Conferee(s) discharged.

  41. Received notice of all Senate conferees being discharged (Sen. Com. No. 409).

  42. House Conferee(s) discharged.

  43. Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).

Verify the information

Our commitment to neutrality

We provide factual information only. We never tell you which politicians or bills to support, and we do not rank, score, or endorse anyone.