Bills Making it Easier to Save for Retirement, Help Kupuna Awaiting Governor's Approval

The 2025 Legislature passed several measures that support kupuna and caregivers, including a bill that should make it easier for workers to save for retirement at work. But lawmakers failed to pass key bills that AARP Hawai`i strongly supported to create a state tax credit for family and to fight cryptocurrency ATM fraud.

In addition, the Legislature provided funding to help start up a Hawai`i Retirement Savings program and increased Medicaid reimbursements for home- and community-based service providers that should allow caregiving businesses to offer higher pay to caregiving workers.

The governor is reviewing the bills before they can be signed into law.

Another bill that AARP supported to create a paid family leave program in Hawai`i will be studied by a task force that will make a recommendation to a future Legislature.

Overall, AARP Hawai`i believes the 2025 Legislature gets a “B” grade for what they accomplished. But they fell short of an “A” because of what they didn’t pass.

The kupuna-friendly measures the Legislature passed include:

Senate Bill 855 – to allow workers to opt-out of a Hawai`i Retirement Savings program, rather than having them opt-in. This is considered best practice and should allow more workers to save for retirement through payroll deduction.

Senate Resolution 117 - asking the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to convene a working group to develop recommendations for a paid family and medical leave program for Hawai`i.

House Concurrent Resolution 37 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 22 – asking the Hawai`i Emergency Management Agency to develop programs to inform kupuna about emergency preparedness

House Bill 703 – extends the State Rent Supplement Program for kupuna.

SB1044 – expands the powers of the Hawai`I Property Insurance Association, reactivates the Hawai`i Hurricane Relief fund and takes other steps to help stabilize the property insurance market in Hawai`i.

House Bill 705 – to establish a Medi-Medi Project to help kupuna, people with disabilities and others qualify for low-income subsidy programs to access their benefits.

Kupuna bills that failed to pass:

House Bill 701 – to create a state family caregiver tax credit.

House Bill 1277 - limits daily cryptocurrency ATM transactions to $1,000 to limit fraud losses from scammers using cryptocurrency ATMs to collect payments.

AARP Hawai’i will be back next year to try and get a state family caregiver tax credit. We’re also working in Congress to establish a federal family caregiver tax credit to help families with the high cost of caregiving.

We’ll also planning a more robust anti-fraud bill with additional consumer protections around crypto currency atms.

If you want to help us pass legislation to help kupuna, email AARP Hawai`i Advocacy Director Audrey Suga-Nakagawa at hiaarp@aarp.org.