Hawaii HR85: Requesting the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, in Collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, to Establish a Working Group and Provide a Report to the Legislature on Ways to Strengthen Protections for Survivors of Image-based Sexual Abuse.

What the bill says

From the engrossed text:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES hIN THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D. STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP AND PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON WAYS TO STRENGTHEN PREVENTION, INTERVENTIONS, AND PROTECTIONS FOR SURVIVORS OF IMAGE-BASED SEXUAL ABUSE. WHEREAS, image-based sexual abuse involves the sharing, or threat of sharing, explicit images or videos of another person without their consent, often with the intent to harm the victim's health, safety, mental weilness, employment, financial condition, reputation, or personal relationships; and WHEREAS, image-based sexual abuse is included as a class C felony under existing state law, which covers offenses that constitute a violation of privacy in the first degree; and WHEREAS, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation recognizes nine different forms of image-based sexual abuse, including nonconsensual distribution of sexually explicit material, collection of nonconsensual distributed sexually explicit materials, recorded sexual violence, sexual extortion, sexual violence in virtual or augmented reality, techfacilitated sexual coercion, video voyeurism, and multiple forms of computer-generated or artificial intelligence-generated abuse; and WHEREAS, a 2017 study by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative found that 12.8 percent of respondents reported being survivors of image-based sexual abuse; and WHEREAS, estimates of prevalence rates for image--based sexual abuse, like sexual assault, are widely believed to be low because of the …

Read the full official text

Sponsors

• Trish La Chica (D, 37) · primary sponsor
• Terez Amato (D, 11)
• Tina Grandinetti (D, 20)
• Kim Iwamoto (D, 25)
• Matthias Kusch (D, 1)
• Nicole Lowen (D, 7)
• Lisa Marten (D, 51)
• Amy Perruso (D, 46)
• Elijah Pierick (R, 39)
• Mahina Poepoe (D, 13)
• Julie Reyes Oda (R, 40)
• Adrian Tam (D, 24)

Latest actions

1. April 9, 2026: Resolution adopted in final form.
2. April 9, 2026: Adopted as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).
3. April 9, 2026: Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1965-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending adoption.
4. April 8, 2026: The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Hussey, Gedeon.
5. April 7, 2026: Resolution scheduled to be heard by FIN on Wednesday, 04-08-26 1:55PM in conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
6. April 7, 2026: The committee(s) on FIN recommend(s) that the measure be deferred.
7. April 2, 2026: Scheduled for decision making on Tuesday, 04-07-26 10:05AM in conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
8. April 2, 2026: Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).
9. April 2, 2026: Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1758-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to FIN.
10. March 31, 2026: The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Sayama.

Votes

• Adopted as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1) (April 9, 2026): 50 yea, 0 nay, passed
• FIN: recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS (April 8, 2026): 14 yea, 0 nay, passed
• Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0) (April 2, 2026): 51 yea, 0 nay, passed
• JHA: recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS (March 31, 2026): 8 yea, 0 nay, passed

Common questions

What is HR85?

HR85 is a bill in the Hawaii Legislature (2026 Regular Session): Requesting the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, in Collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, to Establish a Working Group and Provide a Report to the Legislature on Ways to Strengthen Protections for Survivors of Image-based Sexual Abuse.

What is the status of HR85?

Passed both chambers as of April 9, 2026. Latest action: Resolution adopted in final form. (April 9, 2026).

Who sponsored HR85?

Trish La Chica (D, 37), with 11 co-sponsors.

Where is the official record for HR85?

On the Hawaii Legislature website: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HR&billnumber=85&year=2026