Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 758, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to accommodate applicants for a driver's license who have difficulty in understanding the English language by authorizing the Examiner of Drivers to provide written examinations in a foreign languages.

The City and County of Honolulu and Faith Action for Community Equity testified in support of this bill. The Department of Transportation testified in opposition to this measure.

Your Committee finds that the only driver's license test given other than the written English test are oral examinations in English, offered only to English-speaking persons who are illiterate. This bill will restore written tests in languages other than English which were terminated by the Department of Transportation.

The City and County of Honolulu testified that it is in the process of developing seven foreign language examinations in Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan, and Vietnamese.

After careful consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by:

Lastly, your Committee urges the Department of Transportation to prepare a written examination in Hawaiian, an official language of the State of Hawaii.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 758, S.D.1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 758, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.