Hawaii legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Hawaii SB2578: Relating to the Film Industry.
Status: Passed one chamber, April 22, 2026
Establishes the Hawaii Film Commission within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for administrative purposes only and transfers the rights, powers, functions, and duties of the Hawaii Film Office to the Commission. Establishes the Film Industry Development Special Fund. Excludes media and film from the definition of creative industries and renames the Hawaii Film and Creative Industries Development Special Fund as the Hawaii Creative Industries Development Special Fund. Amend s the sources of moneys to be deposited into the Hawaii C reative I ndustries D evelopment S pecial F und, including requiring all revenues, fees, and charges from the processing of the Motion Picture, Digital Media, a nd Film Production Income Tax Credit to be deposited into the F ilm I ndustry D evelopment S pecial F und, rather than the Hawaii C reative I ndustries D evelopment S pecial F und. Allows the Creative Industries Development Special Fund to be used for the support and development of facilities and other initiatives to grow the State's creative industries. Requires the Governor to appoint Commission members, the Director of Business, Economic Development to appoint the Executive Director of the Commission, and the Executive Director to hire staff by 12/31/2027. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.
What the bill says
A bill for an act relating to the film industry.
From the engrossed text:
A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE FILM INDUSTRY. SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's film, television, and digital media industries are operating in an increasingly competitive global environment, in which jurisdictions compete not only on tax incentives, but on infrastructure, workforce readiness, technological capacity, and speed of execution. Competing states and international jurisdictions are modernizing their film offices into integrated film commissions or media authorities with centralized authority to administer incentives, grants, studio facilities, and public-private partnerships. The legislature also finds that Hawaii currently does not have a state film commission in statute, but rather, the film industry branch within the creative industries division of the department of business, economic development, and tourism is currently doing business as the "Hawaii film office" and the film industry development manager of the branch is serving as the "Hawaii state film commissioner" for purposes of membership in third-party 2026-0799 SB2578 SD1 SMA.docx HIIHHIEUNMu Page 2 S.B. NO. 2578 S.D. organizations, including the Association of Film Commissioners International. The legislature further finds that advances in artificial intelligence, virtual production, digital post-production, and content creation technologies are fundamentally reshaping how content is produced, distributed, and monetized. To remain competitive, Hawaii must simultaneously retain its ability to attract major domestic and international productions; invest in next-generation infrastructure, facilities, and equipment; support workforce development …
Sponsors
- Lynn DeCoite (D, 7) · primary sponsor
- Sharon Moriwaki (D, 12)
Latest actions
- : Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 723).
- : Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Fevella.
- : Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 800).
- : House Conferees Appointed: Ilagan, Hussey Co-Chairs; Tam, Gedeon.
- : Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 564).
- : Senate disagrees with House amendments.
- : Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 514).
- : Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.
- : Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2005-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
- : The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. 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.
Votes
- Third Reading 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, UNAMENDED (April 7, 2026): 16 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Matsumoto, Perruso excused (2) (March 25, 2026): 49 yea, 0 nay, passed
- ECD: recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS (March 20, 2026): 6 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading (March 6, 2026): 24 yea, 0 nay, passed
- WAM: recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED (March 3, 2026): 12 yea, 0 nay, passed
Subjects: Report, Exemption, Appropriations, The Film Industry, Rules, DBEDT, Counties, Reports
Common questions
- What is SB2578?
- SB2578 is a bill in the Hawaii Legislature (2026 Regular Session): Relating to the Film Industry.
- What does SB2578 do?
- In its own words: A bill for an act relating to the film industry.
- What is the status of SB2578?
- Passed one chamber as of April 22, 2026. Latest action: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 723). (April 22, 2026).
- Who sponsored SB2578?
- Lynn DeCoite (D, 7), with 1 co-sponsor.
- Where is the official record for SB2578?
- On the Hawaii Legislature website: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2578&year=2026
Source: official Hawaii record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.