STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3293

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 3343

       H.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Economic Development and Taxation, to which was referred H.B. No. 3343, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FILIPINO-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to amend chapter 8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to designate the month of October as "Filipino-American History Month" to commemorate the contributions of Filipino-Americans to the history and heritage of Hawaii and the United States, and to establish that it is not a state holiday.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission, the Office of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the National Federal of Filipino American Associations Region XII, the Filipino-American Historical Society of Hawaii, the United Filipino Council of Hawaii, the Filipino Coalition for Solidarity, the Oahu Filipino Community Council, the Filipino American Citizens League, the Congress of Visayan Organizations, the Philippine Nurses Association-Hawaii, the Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Inc., and a volunteer docent at the Hawaii Plantation Village in Waipahu.

     Your Committee finds that 2006 marked the one hundred year anniversary of the arrival of the first group of Filipino immigrant workers to plantations in Hawaii.  2006 was a year of celebrations throughout the Islands commemorating the cultural, economic, educational, political, and social life of the Filipinos and their effects on the island communities.

     Your Committee has heard that those celebrations contributed to a wealth of written and other materials on the history of the struggles of the Filipino immigrants.  The designation of October as Filipino-American Month will encourage the continuing development of these important historical and cultural resources.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development and Taxation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 3343, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development and Taxation,

____________________________

CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair