In the 2026 legislative session, Indivisible Hawaiʻi's Public Policy Action Group (PPAG) proved what's possible when everyday people come together to advocate for their communities. Our 266 members — many of whom had never submitted testimony before 2026 — championed six critical issues and helped move dozens of bills through the legislative process.
This is what democracy looks like when we show up.
2026 wins at a glance
Here's what we accomplished together:
- Migrant Rights: Moved 5 bills through passage protecting immigrants' dignity and due process rights
- Good Government/Free & Fair Elections: Passed 4 bills, including the groundbreaking Act 11 (SB2471) that challenges the dark money allowed by Citizens United
- Affordability for Working Families: Stopped tax cuts for the wealthy and increased taxes on high earners (SB3125)
- Healthcare Access (including LGBTQ+ Rights): Protected reproductive rights and gender-affirming care through 3 measures
- Gun Safety: Passed SB2721 (Act 151), a major penal code reform recommended by the 2025 Advisory Committee on Penal Code Review
Governor Green has since signed thirteen of these bills into law, and the legislature adopted the reproductive-care resolution alongside them.
How the PPAG works
The Public Policy Action Group is where Indivisible Hawaiʻi members turn their values into action. We strategically track bills through the legislative process, coordinate testimony, and build relationships with committee chairs and local legislators.
In 2026, we organized around six priority issues, working alongside coalition partners including the Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, League of Women Voters, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, and others to identify the bills that would have the greatest impact on our communities.
Every bill we supported had a dedicated lead who monitored its progress through committees, conference, and floor votes. When a bill needed support, we mobilized. We also made it as accessible as possible: training, sample testimony, hearing notifications, and clear submission deadlines — whether someone was testifying for the first time or the twentieth.
When the moment called for it, we showed up in person with live testimony, direct advocacy with legislators, rallies at the Capitol, phone calls, emails, sign-waving across the state. If you'd like to understand the full gauntlet a bill faces to become law, read our deep dive on How a Bill becomes Law in Hawaiʻi.
For a detailed look at how this advocacy works in practice, read our case study on how we made State Bill 2471 become law – Act 11.
The bills: What we supported and why
Migrant Rights
In January 2026, Indivisible Hawaiʻi joined the Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HCIR), the ACLU-Hawaiʻi, League of Women Voters, The Legal Clinic, and many more partners to launch the Campaign for Immigrant Justice.
The Campaign moved 5 migrant rights bills through passage, and the Governor has signed all five into law. As the legislative committees were considering these measures, 7 of the 10 most active submitters of testimony were Indivisibles.
- SB2125 (Act 30) - Allows the Department of Education and charter schools to hire unlicensed individuals as teachers on an emergency basis for five, rather than three, years
- SB2057 (Act 141) - Limits state and county law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
- HB1838 (Act 142) - Establishes statewide standards for the issuance of U and T visa certifications, and requiring the Attorney General to provide training for state and county certifying officials
- HB1839 (Act 161) - Requires notification of rights for persons in state or county custody before any federal civil immigration enforcement interview
- HB1870 (Act 162) - Requires state and county agencies that operate protected community locations to adopt policies limiting cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement and require AG to publish model policies
Unfortunately, the "No Mask, Wear ID" bills were abandoned after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that a similar California law violated the Supremacy Clause.
Good Government – Free & Fair Elections
For this issue in 2026, Indivisible Hawaiʻi partnered with the League of Women Voters, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA), and Clean Elections Hawaiʻi. The Governor has signed all four bills into law.
- SB2471 (Act 11) - Reaffirms that artificial persons created under state law possess only those powers that are necessary or convenient to carry out lawful purposes, and that those powers do not include the power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures.
Senators Rhoads and Keohokālole and Representative Matayoshi confirmed in our legislative webinar that without Indivisibles' continual outreach, this bill would have died. Read more about how we made this happen. - SB2143 (Act 25) - Establishes an order of succession for an Interim Chief Election Officer in the event of a vacancy in the position of Chief Election Officer until the Elections Commission appoints a new Chief Election Officer
- SB2466 (Act 82) - Specifies that the Chief Election Officer may only be terminated for cause
- HB2050 (Act 136) - Increases the expenditure limit and the amount of partial public campaign financing available for all elective offices. Adjusts the minimum amount of qualifying contributions certain candidates must receive to participate in the program. Increases the matching fund payments for excess qualifying contributions.
Affordability for Working Families
For Affordability for Working Families, Indivisible Hawaiʻi decided to join the Hawaiʻi Tax Fairness Coalition to advocate for tax revenues to pay for the public goods and services working families need, and tax credits to make Hawaiʻi more affordable for working families.
The state legislature passed SB3125 to stop tax cuts for the wealthy and to tax high earners more. Governor Green signed SB3125 into law as Act 24.
SB3125 (Act 24) - Stops tax cuts for wealthy, increase tax for households earning more than $1 million
Tax credits for working families, capital gain tax, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and conveyance tax will be worked on again in 2027.
Healthcare Access and LGBTQIA+ Rights
For Healthcare Access, Indivisible Hawaiʻi partnered with Hawaiʻi Planned Parenthood, ACOG Hawaiʻi (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), Hawaiʻi Healthcare Safety Net Coalition, and Save Medicaid Hawaiʻi.
- HB1875 (Act 59) - Expands the protections established under Act 2, SLH 2023, to include gender-affirming health care services
- HB1961 (Act 202) - Prohibits persons from interfering with another person's access to or from a health care facility or disrupting the normal functioning of a health care facility
- HR5/HCR6/SR7/SCR7 - Affirms and supports the requirement that hospitals provide life-saving emergency care to pregnant people, including reproductive and abortion services
Gun Safety
For gun safety legislation, Indivisible Hawaiʻi partnered with Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Everytown, and Brady.
We supported 9 bills with written, online, and in-person testimony. One of these, SB2721, passed and was signed into law as Act 151. The remaining measures did not advance this session, and we'll be back in 2027 to continue this fight.
SB2721 (Act 151) - Implements recommendations from the 2025 Advisory Committee on Penal Code Review, established pursuant to Act 245, SLH 2024, to amend the Hawaiʻi Penal Code.
The 2027 legislative session is just around the corner
The majority of our Public Policy Action Group had never submitted testimony before 2026. They weren't policy experts or political insiders; they were people like you who decided their voice mattered, and they were right.
When Senator Rhoads told us that SB2471 would have died without our advocacy, he wasn't being polite – he was stating a fact. Bills don't pass themselves, and change doesn't happen because it's the right thing to do. Change happens because people show up consistently to make it happen.
If you've read this far, you're clearly interested in making a difference. The 2027 legislative session is already on the horizon, and there's work to be done.
Join the waitlist to be notified when we gear up for the 2027 session. Once we get started, you'll get access to training and can choose to receive the alerts, so you can submit testimony and get your voice heard.
