STAND. COM. REP. NO 338

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 825

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Tourism and International Affairs and Higher Education and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 825 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CULTURAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN HAWAII AND PUERTO RICO,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a temporary Puerto Rican Exchange Commission to coordinate a cultural exchange program between Hawaii and Puerto Rico, honor and recognize the contributions of the Puerto Rican people, and commemorate the arrival of the Puerto Ricans to Hawaii.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

     Your Committees find that since the arrival of the first Puerto Ricans in Hawaii on December 23, 1900, the Puerto Rican people have contributed significantly to all phases of Hawaii's development.  The rich culture and proud heritage of the Puerto Rican people have been and continue to be positive influences upon life in Hawaii.  Your Committees further find that recognition of the contributions of the Puerto Rican people and their culture is important to promotion and awareness of Hawaii's diverse and multicultural society.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the commission termination date from January 1, 2017, to June 30, 2017; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Tourism and International Affairs and Higher Education and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 825, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 825, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Tourism and International Affairs and Higher Education and the Arts,

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

____________________________ GILBERT KAHELE, Chair