The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii achieved many legislative victories at both the state and county levels during 2025 that will help Hawaii residents thrive and prosper in the years ahead.
At the state level, Grassroot supported bills aimed at broadening job opportunities, increasing government accountability and making it easier and less costly to build housing.
Grassroot also worked to lower Hawaii’s high cost of living by helping defeat almost every major proposed tax increase during the 2025 legislative session.
At the county level, Maui lawmakers adopted Grassroot-supported measures that will make it easier for Lahaina residents to rebuild their homes and businesses destroyed in the 2023 wildfires. They also passed a bill overturning an administrative ruling that restricted where food trucks could operate.
Elsewhere throughout the state, county lawmakers expanded freedom for taxi owners in Honolulu, backyard henneries on Hawaii Island and farmers markets on Kauai.
State measures supported by Grassroot that were enacted in 2025 include:
>> SB15: Redefined what is considered a “historic” property.
>> SB66: Established a 60-day deadline to act on a building permit application and allows a licensed professional to sign off on the permit if it hasn’t been approved or denied within 60 days, both starting on July 1, 2026.
>> SB1065: Prohibits state agencies and departments from requiring a college bachelor’s degree as a condition of employment for most state jobs.
>> SB1296: Codified Gov. Josh Green’s waiver of the state’s Special Management Area regulations for more than 600 structures in Lahaina.
>> HB422: Eliminated school impact fees for home projects under 100 units and substantially reduced them for other housing projects.
>> HB126: Reformed the state’s civil asset forfeiture process by prohibiting law enforcement from keeping seized property in the absence of criminal charges being filed.
>> HB1409: Incentivizes counties to increase density near “public transit infrastructure” by tying funding to county upzoning.
County bills supported by Grassroot that were enacted during the past year include:
Hawai‘i County
>> Bill 52 (2025): Allows female chickens, guineas, ducks or quails for the purpose of noncommercial egg production in residential and agricultural zones.
Honolulu County
>> Bill 42 (2025): Abolished the city’s rate-setting regulations for taxicabs.
>> Bill 51 (2024): Makes it easier to convert existing commercial buildings into housing.
>> Bill 63 (2024): Extended the waiver for wastewater system facility charges and building permit, plan review, grading, grubbing and stockpiling fees for accessory dwelling units until June 30, 2030.
>> Bill 49 (2025) and Bill 50 (2025): Will increase the homeowner exemptions for Honolulu property owners by $10,000 a year, starting in fiscal 2028.
>> Bill 29 (2025): Extended the property tax exemption for Bill 7 affordable housing projects from 10 years to 15 years.
Kaua‘i County
>> Bill 2951: Expanded the types of areas in which farmers markets can be operated.
Maui County
>> Bill 76 (2025): Allows food trucks on ag lands, subject to a limit of 25 in the Hana area.
>> Bill 104 (2024): Allows one kitchenette per principal dwelling in the residential and rural zoning districts of Maui and Lanai.
>> Bill 105 (2024): Allows nonconforming structures and uses destroyed by the 2023 Lahaina fires to be restored as they were before the fires.
>> Bill 146 (2024): Requires the Maui Department of Water Supply to update its methodology for determining water-fixture-unit requirements.
>> Bill 123 (2025): Waives registration rules for bed and breakfasts seeking to rebuild after the 2023 Lahaina fires.
>> Bill 110 (2024): Exempts the owners of certain Lahaina properties destroyed in the 2023 fires from having to help fund otherwise-required infrastructure improvements as part of their rebuilding efforts.
>> Bill 156 (2025): Waived rules related to overhead encroachments on public rights-of-way for the reconstruction of buildings damaged or destroyed in a natural disaster.
