STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3147

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 66

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Government Operations, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 66 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE STATE OF HAWAII NAME A SCHOOL, BUILDING, ROAD, OR AREA UNDER ITS CONTROL AFTER PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the State to name a school, building, road, or area under its control after President Barack H. Obama.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the African American Lawyers Association of Hawaii, Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights, African American Diversity Cultural Center Hawai‘i, and two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the University of Hawai‘i System and State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

     Your Committee finds that Barack Hussein Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and spent his formative years attending high school on the island of Oahu.  In 2005, Barack Obama was sworn in as a United States senator representing Illinois and on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States of America.  Implementation of this measure honors President Obama's connection to Hawaii, legacy, historic role as the first African American United States president, and tireless dedication as a progressive and forward thinking leader.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requesting the Governor to coordinate with various state agencies to create a plan to name a school, building, road, park, or other property under control of the State in honor of President Barack H. Obama, rather than limiting the request to create a plan to the Department of Transportation, University of Hawaii System, Department of Education, and Department of Accounting and General Services;

     (2)  Requiring the Governor to submit a report to the Legislature, rather than the submittal of a joint report by the Department of Transportation, University of Hawaii System, Department of Education, and Department of Accounting and General Services;

     (3)  Amending its title to more accurately reflect the purpose of the measure; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 66, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 66, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair