Tax relief for residents and an environmental impact fee for visitors are among nearly 1,000 proposals in bills that have advanced through the midpoint of this year’s legislative session.

Other high- profile initiatives making the cut would pump $300 million into a state affordable- housing development fund, boost ethical standards for local government officials, reinforce abortion rights and lower the impairment threshold for drunken driving.

In all, 949 bills crossed from the Senate to the House of Representatives, or vice versa, by Thursday’s deadline, or 30% of 3,132 bills introduced this year.

One bill has even cleared the House and Senate already, and awaits a decision from Gov. Josh Green. This measure, Senate Bill 36, would restore a prior long-standing option to charge suspects with felony crimes following a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that invalidated the option.

The Senate passed SB 36 on Feb. 2, followed by the House on Tuesday, and it was sent to Green on Wednesday.

Only about 250 bills annually on average have become law during the past decade or so, leaving the vast majority to fail, including many that don’t receive a single public hearing and some that die in the waning moments of the session or earlier because of disagreements between the House and Senate, dominated by Democrats.

>> RELATED: How major bills fared at the Capitol

Among some contentious bills that appear dead this year is one that would have allowed the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to generate more income from land it owns in Kakaako Makai by allowing residential development there. This measure, SB 736, received deeply divided public testimony and got held in the Senate after passing two committees there because of anticipated House leadership opposition.

There also has been contentious debate on some high-profile bills that have crossed over, including some where final passage by the May 4 end of the session could be doubtful.

The Senate on Tuesday voted 22-3 to pass a bill proposing to legalize the adult recreational use of cannabis, SB 669, after one recent hearing that drew supportive public testimony from over 300 people and organizations, including medical cannabis dispensaries, in contrast with opposing testimony from over 50 people and organizations, including law enforcement agencies.

House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Ala Moana-Kakaako- Downtown) has said that he told key members of the House to defer the legislation in favor of trying to craft a more comprehensive bill that addresses law enforcement concerns and the issue of federal restrictions in 2024.

Another divisive measure involving an intoxicant, SB 160, would lower the impairment threshold for drunken driving to a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.05% from 0.08%.

Sen. Karl Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a March 3 floor speech that Utah is the only other state to reduce its limit to 0.05%, but 17 other countries have the same limit, including Australia, Germany, Italy and Hong Kong, while three countries including Japan have a 0.03% limit and four countries including China have a 0.02% limit.

“This is far from being an outlier in the broad scheme of things,” said Rhoads (D, Nuuanu-Downtown-Iwilei). “It will save lives.”

Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi-Fort Shafter-Red Hill) opposed the bill on grounds that people who weigh less than others will be unfairly affected.

Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D, Puna) was one of six senators supporting the measure with reservations, and said current penalties for driving under the influence of an intoxicant will be “draconian” for offenses under the current 0.08% limit.

“We really should consider an intermediary step, because people have lost jobs — have lost careers — just for one DUI,” she said.

The vote to pass the bill along to the House was 21-1 with three senators excused.

A couple of other contentious high-profile bills that have crossed over aim to dissolve the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which markets Hawaii and has been charged with managing tourism impacts on the state, in favor of establishing a new “destination management” agency structured in different ways under House Bill 1375 and SB 1522.

One initiative that received overwhelming support on its way to crossing over would charge nonresidents age 15 and older $50 for visiting any state natural area, including parks and beaches.

The measure to do this, SB 304, would have the state Department of Land and Natural Resources post signs at natural areas informing the public about the requirement and how to purchase a one-year license via a mobile app or website. Violators would be subject to a civil fine of an unspecified amount that takes effect no sooner than five years after establishing the program.

Another popular bill crossing over proposes to cut income taxes for residents. This measure, HB 954, would amend tax brackets and increase the standard deduction, the personal exemption and the earned- income tax credit. The governor has pushed for these changes, and estimated that they will save households close to $2,000 or more annually.

The House also sent a bill to the Senate that allows for a possible tax rebate for residents. However, a dollar amount in HB 40 is blank, and there was no discussion at a hearing on the bill as to whether a rebate of any amount is intended, leaving this issue for the Senate to consider.

One bill advanced by the Senate expected to be embraced in the House would strengthen protections for providing and receiving abortions in Hawaii in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that led many states to enact laws preventing abortion.

SB 1 would protect Hawaii health care workers who perform abortions on patients, including women from outside the state, from interstate legal actions. The bill, which passed the Senate 22-3 on Tuesday, also allows licensed physician assistants to perform some abortions, repeals a requirement that abortions be performed at certain locations and prohibits the release of reproductive health care information.

San Buenaventura in a Tuesday floor speech reminded colleagues that state lawmakers made Hawaii the first state to legalize abortion more than 50 years ago and that reinforcing such a right was the right thing to do.

“Like our colleagues did 53 years ago, the Hawaii Senate can stand behind and protect our medical providers from being arrested, subpoenaed and prosecuted simply for providing safe abortions,” she said.

In the area of government reform, the House sent the Senate 23 of 28 bills and two resolutions reflecting recommendations made by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct.

The commission was established in 2022 in connection with convictions last year of former Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English and the former vice chair of the House Finance Committee, former Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen, on charges they accepted bribes from a local businessman in exchange for action on legislation.

Reform bills passed to the Senate include restrictions on lobbyist gifts (HB 142), prohibitions on nepotism in state government (HB 717) and a ban on state and county elected officials from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular session or special session of the Legislature (HB 726).

Two other advancing reform bills would take effect in 2025 and require state lawmakers to disclose relationships with lobbyists (HB 141) and require lobbyists to identify legislative or administrative actions where they have taken a position (HB 137).

One measure recommended by the commission that failed to cross over was HB 796, which proposed to limit lawmakers from serving more than 16 years in the Legislature.

David Tarnas, who as chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs ensured that every proposal recommended by the commission got a public hearing, said in a statement that the House reaffirmed that the ethics reform legislation sets the tone in ensuring the highest standards of integrity among our elected officials.

“It reinforces our commitment to transparency, accountability and improving public trust,” he said.