2025 Legislative Update

It has been a very active year in the state legislature, with much of HHHRC’s core policy priorities still alive for this session:

• SB 1431 provides additional resources to the state Department of Health’s viral hepatitis program to improve surveillance, vaccination, testing and linkage to needed care.

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• SB 1433 moves Hawaiʻi’s longstanding syringe exchange program from one-to-one exchange to needs-based delivery, aligning with best practices.

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• HB 712 restricts the ability of drug manufacturers from restricting drugs to 340B entities under the federal 340B pricing program, which provides reimbursements that can assist clinics in meeting the health needs of those of little or no economic means.

Unfortunately, a bill that would have provided legal protections for those providing and accessing gender-affirming care, SB 1150, was tabled without a vote by a joint hearing of the Senate Ways and Means and Senate Judiciary Committees. The in-person testimony offered by Maddie Sesepasara, HHHRC’s Transgender Services Manager, and Dr. Rick Ramirez, one of HHHRC’s clinical services providers, were featured briefly in a Hawaiʻi News Now story covering the bill’s first hearing in February.

SB 957 was another notable bill that received a hearing but did not progress. It would have authorized the state Department of Health to establish overdose prevention centers.

HHHRC Policy & Advancement Manager Nikos Leverenz has also been an active presence with coalitions that help advance our mutual values and priorities, including the True Cost Coalition, Partners in Care, Reimagining Public Safety, and Hawaiʻi Alliance for Cannabis Reform, and has offered written and in-person testimonies on behalf of HHHRC and Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiʻi.

HHHRC Executive Director Heather Lusk also testified in support of Governor Green’s nomination of Mike Lambert to serve as Director of the state Department of Law Enforcement.