STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3040

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2455

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2455, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM FOR THE 2018 GANNENMONO CELEBRATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate monies to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for the 2018 Gannenmono celebration to commemorate the arrival of the first group of organized Japanese immigrants in Hawaii.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i.

Your Committee finds that 2018 marks the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the arrival in Hawaii of the first group of organized Japanese immigrants, known as the gannenmono or "first year men". Twenty community organizations in the State dedicated to perpetuating the history of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii are engaged in a collective effort to plan events during the year-long commemorative celebration. These events will foster friendships between Hawaii and Japan and honor the legacy of the Gannenmono and the contributions that they and their descendants have made in the State through the years.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of December 23, 2035, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2455, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2455, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair