Legislative Funneling in Hawai’i: A Survival Analysis of Bill Passage in the 2025 State Legislative Session

Legislative research has traditionally examined bill passage from a political science perspective, focusing on party control and divided government. Yet, little attention has been paid to the internal legislative dynamics that directly shape bill outcomes. This study reorients the analysis toward the policy and public administration lens by introducing the concept of legislative funneling—the progressive narrowing of bills through successive procedural stages. Using survival analysis of all bills introduced during the 2025 Hawaii State Legislature, the study identifies when and why bills are most likely to fail. The findings show that the legislative process functions as an attritional funnel, with more than half of bills expiring within the first month, and budget-related measures exhibiting significantly higher survival rates. These results highlight the importance of internal legislative structures and timing in understanding policymaking processes and provide a foundation for future comparative analyses across legislatures.