Gov. Green vetoes BOE executive director bill

News admin July 16, 2026 0 Comments

Gov. Green vetoes BOE executive director bill

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed his final bills of the year Wednesday, wrapping up the legislative session with 266 measures signed and just one veto.

The governor vetoed Senate Bill 3262, which required the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to submit three nominees for its executive director to the Board of Education. The board would then appoint an executive director from the nominee list, subject to advice and consent of the Senate.

Green said he vetoed the bill because further evaluation is needed on how the proposed changes may affect the respective roles, authorities and oversight functions of each entity.

Three bills on Green’s intent-to-veto list were passed after careful consideration.

SB 2338: Relating to Housing, which exempts certain employment actions and job descriptions for the Hawaii House Finance and Development Corporation and Hawaii Community Development Authority from approval by the Director of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

House Bill 2344: Relating to School Facilities, which establishes a temporary, independent public school realignment and closure commission based on the federal Base Realignment and Closure model.

SB 2600: Relating to the General Fund, makes a deposit into the emergency and budget reserve fund.

Before Green signed SB 2600, he enacted a line-item reduction due to disaster recovery efforts, federal funding disruptions and cost-of-living concerns. He said it would be “financially imprudent” to transfer general funds to the emergency budget reserve fund.

The current balance of the Rainy Day fund of more than $1.6 billion is the largest it has ever been. Annual interest accrual is forecast to add more than $50 million in FY27.

Green also signed new laws on e-bikes, setting 15 as the minimum age for riders and requiring helmets for those under 18.

In addition, the governor also signed SB 2999, which established a clean fuel standard to reduce transportation emissions to cut Hawaii’s carbon footprint.