STAND. COM. REP. NO. 155

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1451

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1451 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE HOLIDAYS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish Lā Kū‘oko‘a, Hawaiian Recognition Day, and to remove Presidents' Day from the list of state holidays.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; INPEACE; Bishop Museum; Papa Ola Lōkahi; Kamehameha Schools; Hawaiian Civic Club of Hilo; We Are One, Inc.; Ku-A-Kanaka; Ka Lāhui Hawai‘i Political Action Committee; Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club; The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Ke One O Kākuhihewa, O‘ahu Council – Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Democratic Party of Hawaii, Hawaiian Affairs Caucus; Democratic Party of Hawaii, Hawaiian Affairs Caucus Executive Committee; and fourteen individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

Your Committee finds that reestablishing Lā Kū‘oko‘a as an official state holiday is a way to restore important connections to Hawaii's rich cultural and political history. Establishing Lā Kū‘oko‘a is a means to honor the cultural foundations our modern state is built on and bring lessons from Hawaii's socially progressive history into the present.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1451 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

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MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair