HB2042 HD1 HSCR381-02

STAND. COM. REP. NO.381-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2042

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2042, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ACCESS TO VITAL STATISTICS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to assist individuals in proving their Hawaiian ancestry by:

(1) Establishing a task force to discuss and coordinate access to vital statistics records by these individuals and to secure federal and private moneys to match the state funds; and

(2) Appropriating funds, to be matched by federal or private moneys, to establish a system to enable these individuals to have access to and make copies of these records to prove their ethnic identity without charge to them.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Ka Lahui Hawaii and the Oahu Council of Civic Clubs. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Department of Health provided testimony in support of the intent of this measure.

Your Committee recognizes that the increased costs of obtaining these records have created an economic hardship for individuals trying to document their eligibility for the Hawaiian Home Lands Program and other Hawaiian entitlement programs. Pending measures in Congress to provide federal recognition of Hawaiians, if passed, will result in even more requests for these records and will create additional economic burdens for our Hawaiian community. This bill will assist those individuals who need to verify their Hawaiian ancestry to be eligible for benefits.

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 H.B. No. 2042, H.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

		____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair