Statewide: the brief, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026
Four years after the State Auditor told the Hawaii Department of Education to write rules for its school impact fee program, the department told the Auditor in October 2023 that it had not done so, according to the Auditor's records. [source: Report No. 24-09, pp. 18, 26–30]
In Audit No. 19-13, released in September 2019 and signed by State Auditor Leslie H. Kondo, the Auditor found that the DOE "has no written policies and procedures for the selection of potential school impact districts," as the Auditor's 2024 follow-up summarized it. [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 18]
The audit said the Board of Education "has not promulgated administrative rules to implement the law, although it is empowered by statute to do so." [source: Report No. 19-13, p. 9]
The law applies to all builders of new residential units in designated school impact districts. [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 18]
The audit made 22 recommendations. [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 18]
Recommendation 8 told the DOE, among other things, to "promulgate administrative rules necessary to provide direction to developers, county permitting agencies, and the public as to how the DOE interprets and intends to implement the school impact fee law." [source: Report No. 19-13, p. 44]
It listed five things the rules should cover at minimum: what information counties must send the DOE, when and how builders pay, whether payment can come later, how a developer can appeal, and how the DOE tells counties a fee has been paid. [source: Report No. 19-13, p. 44]
In its Oct. 25, 2023, response, the DOE reported all five parts, 8.a through 8.e, as "Not Implemented." [source: Report No. 24-09, pp. 26–30]
The department wrote that, "as of October 17, 2023, the Department is in consultation and coordination with the School Facilities Authority to establish administrative rules," under Act 72, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020. [source: Report No. 24-09, pp. 26–30]
In 2021 the DOE told the Auditor it anticipated adoption of the rules "by December 31, 2022." [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 26]
By its 2023 response the DOE reported it had at least partially implemented 13 of the remaining recommendations, with five still not implemented. [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 18]
The Auditor wrote that four recommendations "were considered moot by the Board of Education and would not be implemented." [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 18]
In a Dec. 9, 2020, response, the Board wrote that "it is unlikely that the Board will implement any of the report's recommendations as the governance structure and legal context surrounding school impact fees have changed." [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 31]
These statuses are self-reported. The Auditor notes that agency responses are "status as reported by the agencies themselves" and are "not based on an independent assessment by our office." [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 3]
The Auditor's policy is to conduct follow-ups on recommendations "for a five-year period after issuance of the report." [source: Report No. 24-09, p. 3]
The 2025 follow-up, Report No. 25-11, covers audits issued in 2021 through 2023 and does not include Audit 19-13. [source: Report No. 25-11, contents and p. 4]
The Auditor's follow-up page lists Report No. 24-09 and Report No. 25-11 and no later implementation report, so the October 2023 statuses are the last ones published there for Audit 19-13. [source: Office of the Auditor follow-up index, read Nov. 9, 2026]
The Department of Education did not respond to a Ledger request for comment by the 5 p.m. HST Oct. 27 deadline. [source: Hawai'i Ledger newsroom]
Three years after the State Auditor found that the Office of Language Access had not adopted administrative rules, the office told the Auditor its rule work was only partly done and that it disagreed with three of the specific rule provisions the Auditor recommended, according to the Auditor's records. [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 24–34]
In Audit No. 22-10, released in October 2022 and signed by State Auditor Leslie H. Kondo, the Auditor found that OLA's review of agency language access plans "is nothing more than a paper exercise." [source: Report No. 22-10, p. 15]
The audit, quoting Section 321C-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, said the law requires OLA's executive director to "[a]dopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to address the language needs of limited English proficient persons," and that the Legislature "unambiguously required" it. [source: Report No. 22-10, p. 22]
In its Sept. 26, 2022, response, OLA said it "agrees with the overall recommendations," but "respectfully disagrees that the promulgation of administrative rules will add 'teeth' to the current law." [source: Report No. 22-10, pp. 46, 48]
The audit made 26 recommendations. A Ledger count of the items listed in the 2025 follow-up shows 23 called for specific provisions in administrative rules and three did not. [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 24–34]
In Report No. 25-11, published in November 2025, OLA reported three recommendations implemented and 16 partially implemented, 19 at least partially implemented. It listed four as "Not Implemented - N/A" and three as "Not Implemented - Disagree." [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 24–34]
The report's narrative says "four recommendations were not implemented because they disagreed," but the status table lists three recommendations as "Not Implemented - Disagree." [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 24, 26, 33]
The three disagreements concern rule provisions that would require the executive director to approve state agencies' language access plans and covered entities' language access plans, and a process to test and certify interpreters. [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 26, 33]
OLA wrote that it "disagrees with this recommendation due to the lack of enforcement authority," and that it "lacks the capacity and subject matter expertise to become a credentialing body." [source: Report No. 25-11, pp. 26, 33]
On one of the four N/A items, OLA said it would "defer to each agency" because agencies "are subject matter experts in their respective areas." [source: Report No. 25-11, p. 29]
These statuses are self-reported. The Auditor notes that agency responses are "status as reported by the agencies themselves" and are "not based on an independent assessment by our office." [source: Report No. 25-11, p. 3]
A public notice published July 23, 2026, said the Office of Language Access would hold a hearing at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, on proposed Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 11-220, "Office of Language Access Rules of Practice," with written comments due Sept. 3, 2026. The hearing handout dates the hearing Aug. 27, 2026. [source: Star-Advertiser legal notice 0001533708-01, July 23, 2026]
The Department of Health's list of proposed Title 11 changes still shows chapter 11-220 as a proposed new chapter, with a public hearing on Aug. 27, 2026, and does not show an adoption date. [source: DOH proposed Title 11 changes, read Nov. 9, 2026]
OLA's proposed-rules page still posts chapter 11-220 as a proposal and does not show an adoption date. [source: OLA proposed-rules page, read Nov. 9, 2026]
The Office of Language Access did not respond to a Ledger request for comment by the 5 p.m. HST Oct. 27 deadline. [source: Hawai'i Ledger newsroom]
Basis. Written by the Ledger in a session on Nov. 10, 2026 from the records linked in each sentence; it says what was on the record that day, in plain words, and does not predict outcomes or take sides. What has happened since is on Statewide's page. Corrections: the corrections log.