STAND. COM. REP. NO. 186

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 457
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs, to
which was referred S.B. No. 457 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIANS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to exempt native Hawaiians
from fees for vital statistics certificates if the certificates
are required by law to verify a person's eligibility for certain
services or benefits as a person of Hawaiian ancestry. 

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs, and the Waianae Valley Hawaiian Homestead Association.

     Your Committee finds that the increased fees for vital
records authorized by Act 216, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, have
placed an economic hardship on persons seeking to verify their
native Hawaiian qualifications for the Hawaiian home lands and
other claims and entitlement programs.  Documentation of ancestry
most often includes vital records from the Department of Health,
State Archives, Bureau of Conveyances, State courts, and other
ancillary documents.  This measure provides relief from this
burden on native Hawaiians.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached
to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and

 
a                                                     SB457
 
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 186
                                   Page 2


purpose of S.B. No. 457 and recommends that it pass Second
Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Water, Land, and
                                   Hawaiian Affairs,



                                   ______________________________
                                   COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair

 
a                                                     SB457