2026 Legislative Kickoff

January 7, 2026

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Using zoom chat, please introduce yourself.

Your Name. Town and Island where you live.

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Agenda

Introduction

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Priority Bills in Depth

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• Expanding Anti-Discrimination (Sandy Ma)

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• Pay Transparency (Younghee Overly)

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• Campus Safety (Elizabeth Fujiwara)

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Training on using Hawaiʻi capitol website (Nancy Rustad)

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National Update (Younghee Overly)

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Close

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AAUW of Hawaiʻi Public Policy Committee

AAUW is non-partisan but we are political.

Purpose: improve Hawaiʻi state laws which impacts the lives of women and girls in Hawaiʻi

• Advocate with Hawaiʻi state legislators
• Partner with community advocacy organizations
• Educate the AAUW of Hawaiʻi members and the public

Members:

Co-Chairs: Sandy Ma, Younghee Overly

Hilo: Anna Ezzy, Elizabeth Fujiwara

Honolulu: Jean Evans, Ann Freed, Amy Monk

Kauaʻi: Vickie Brewster, Margie Merriman

Kona: Nancy Rustad

Maui: Shadi Askarian

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Place your camera on the QR code to join AAUW

Hawaiʻi Public Policy Network. Questions?

Email publicpolicy-hi@aauw.net.

AAUW Hawaiʻi Advocacy Webpage

https://aauw-hi.aauw.net/advocacy/

Why Participate?

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• Legislators DO listen.
• Your vote ELECTED them to office.
• A simple support or oppose a bill is POWERFUL.
• Local politics and issues — schools, roads, taxes, housing, etc. — IMPACT our lives directly.
• It is EASY, CONVENIENT, and SIMPLE to participate in local government!
• You CAN make an difference.

HBxxx/SBxxx Expands

Anti-Discrimination Protections

(talking points)

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• Expands anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations based on a combination of characteristics and not just a single protected category.
• Affirms federal caselaw – Lam v. Univ. of Hawaii, 40 F.3d 1551 (9th Cir. 1994) – that found that discrimination may be based on a combination of protected categories and not just a single protected category.
• With the rollbacks of longstanding federal precedent, now is the time to reaffirm Hawaii’s anti-discrimination protections.
• Provide certainty for both employers and employees without having to guess about possibly changing federal protections under the current federal administration and evolving federal courts.

HBxxx/SBxxx Pay Transparency

(talking points)

• Women working full-time in Hawaiʻi earned 87.54% of what non-Hispanic white men working full-time earned in 2023

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• Gender pay gap is present in 74% of Hawaiʻi jobs

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• Hawaiʻi has a moderate equal pay protection, Act 203 of 2023 was a step towards a strong equal pay protection

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• Act 203 requires only the employers with more than 50 employees to provide pay range in job listings, leaving out two-thirds of employees in Hawaiʻi

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• HBxxx/SBxxx would require all employers to provide pay range in job listings

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HBxxx/SBxxx Campus Safety

(talking points)

• This bill is about educating and training students about gender violence on their college campus.
• Gender-based violence continues to occur on college campuses in Hawaiʻi, even though Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1688), —the federal law requiring equal treatment of women in education—has been in effect for over 53 years.
• We've seen that when people truly understand what sexual harassment and assault are—not flattery, not romance, but harmful behavior that causes trauma, PTSD, and often forces students to drop out of school, derailing their futures—attitudes change.
• We've also seen that when faculty and students understand the serious consequences of gender-based violence, the real consequences of this behavior—losing a job, being expelled, or facing criminal charges—incidents decrease.
• Similarly, when students are educated and trained about their rights, they will know what is correct behavior and whether they should report an incident or not.
• Most UH students are not trained on gender violence, and this bill will change that.
• The few students exposed to training at UH found it useful.
• Without knowledge, students do not know where to go for help.
• This bill prepares students to be safer when the school year begins.
• This bill helps UH remain competitive with other states' campus safety measures.
• The majority of US colleges and universities require sexual violence prevention training for students prior to registration.

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(Source: UH 2023 Campus Survey on Sex-based Violence and Sexual Harassment)

How Do We Advocate for AAUW Public Policy Priorities National?

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• Two-Minute Activist

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• Letters to Congress

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• Comments and Testimonies

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• Press Releases/Op-Eds

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• Coalition Efforts

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• Lobby Corp

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Full list of legislation AAUW of Hawaiʻi is supporting will be posted at https://aauw-hi.aauw.net/advocacy/ by end of January.

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Email publicpolicy-hi@aauw.net if you want to attend the

Opening Day on January 21st together.

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Sign up for two minute activist -https://www.aauw.org/act/two-minute-activist/.