Hawaiʻi Legislature Keiki Caucus introduces 2026 bill package, focused on 5 priorities

Members of the Hawaiʻi Legislature Keiki Caucus and community advocates unveiled Wednesday (Jan. 28) its 2026 Keiki Caucus bill package, comprised of five priority bills that address the health and welfare of Hawaiʻi’s youth.

“Our 2026 Keiki Caucus Bill Package is focused on building strong, supportive systems that give our youth the opportunity to thrive and grow into confident, healthy adults,” said Keiki Caucus Co-Convenor Oʻahu state Rep. Lisa Marten in a release following the announcement.

Proposed measures address a range of critical issues, including:

• Expanding access to free school meals in charter schools.
• Strengthening responses to youth mental health challenges.
• Prohibiting flavored nicotine products.
• Establishing regulations for e-bikes.
• Improving family court processes for youth involved in the child welfare system.

“The Keiki Caucus allows legislators who care about keiki to act as champions for needs identified by the organizations in the community that work directly with and for keiki,” Marten said. “Through these organizations, it also gives young people a chance to identify their own priority concerns, such as mental health support or counsel for foster youth.”

Her fellow Keiki Caucus Co-Convenor and Oʻahu state Sen. Karl Rhoads said the 2026 Keiki Caucus bill package reflects the ongoing collaboration and dedication between youth, community, youth-centered organizations and legislators to improve the lives of Hawaiʻi’s youth.

2026 Keiki Caucus bill package

House Bill 1561: Free school meals in charter schools

Community advocate: Daniela Spoto, Hawaiʻi Appleseed

• Students can’t learn when they are hungry. Hawaiʻi Legislature last year passed a bill requiring Hawaiʻi Department of Education schools to provide free meals to students whose family income is up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, those same benefits would be extended to public charter schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.

House Bill 1562: Mental health digital platforms

Community advocate: Judith Clark, Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network

• Providing support for youth mental health is the top priority identified by youth themselves and this support provides youth across the State a place online with vetted, appropriate information. This bill funds a 1-year digital youth mental health platform pilot project administered by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of Hawaiʻi Department of Health. A publicly available digital platform would be designed to help young people address and manage mental health challenges.

House Bill 1564: E-bike regulations

Community advocate: Dr. Maya Maxym and Dr. Philip Verhoef, Hawaiʻi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

• As mobility on e-bikes, scooters and other devices becomes widespread among youth and adults alike, so have concerns about safety of the riders and those around them. This comprehensive bill establishes safe riding behaviors, designates the locations where various high-speed electric devices cannot be used and establishes labeling and signage requirements for electric bicycles.

House Bill 1563: Banning flavored nicotine

Community advocate: Saya Shibata, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi Youth Council

• Tobacco companies successfully marketed flavored vape products to children, resulting in high levels of addiction to nicotine for a whole new generation. Hawaiʻi’s county governments already took a stand to protect keiki and adopted ordinances that regulate the sale of flavored vape products should the state give them the power to do so. This bill repeals existing law that pre-empts local ordinances that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products and electronic smoking devices, and voids any existing local laws and regulations conflicting with the state law governing smoking. It allows counties to adopt ordinances that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products and electronic smoking devices that do not conflict with and are more stringent than the state law that governs smoking.

House Bill 1565: Legal counsel for foster youth

Community advocate: Patty Chin, HI H.O.P.E.S. Initiative

• Youth who aged out of the state’s foster system have sometimes thought they lack a voice in court, representing their own wants and access to accurate information about their case. This bill establishes a working group within the Hawaiʻi Judiciary to improve family court processes, including access to legal representation for youth in the child welfare system.

The Hawaiʻi Legislature Keiki Caucus — established in 1994 — is a collaboration between Hawaiʻi state legislators, community leaders and youth-centered organizations who come together to propose, draft, support and implement policy changes that will improve the lives of Hawaiʻi’s young people.

Community advocates present at Wednesday’s rally included:

• Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council.
• Hawai‘i Appleseed.
• Hawai‘i Bicycle League.
• Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks!
• Hawaiʻi Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance.
• Hale Kipa.
• Hawai‘i Public Health Institute.
• Hawai‘i Youth Services Network.
• HI H.O.P.E.S. Initiative.
• ‘Ohana Leadership Council.