STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3117

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2887

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2887, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TATTOOING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to exempt persons deemed by the Department of Health to be kahuna ka kakau, or experts in traditional Hawaiian tattooing, from laws pertaining to the licensing and regulating of tattoo artists.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiian Political Action Council of Hawaii and one individual.  The Department of Health submitted testimony in support of this measure with reservations about its ability to determine whether a person is a kahuna ka kakau.

     In light of the reservations expressed by the Department of Health, your Committees have amended this measure by deleting its content and replacing it with new language which requires the Department of Health to convene a working group to address issues relating to the practice of traditional Hawaiian tattooing.  The replacement language sets forth the desired makeup of the working group, the scope of issues to be addressed, and requires that a report of their findings and recommendations be submitted to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2887, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2887, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Affordable Housing.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Health,

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

____________________________ JILL TOKUDA, Chair