HB2475

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that it is important for the State's residents to learn about Hawaii's culture and history. In 1843, King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III established La Hoihoi Ea, also known as Restoration Day, as the first national holiday in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Historically celebrated on July 31st, La Hoihoi Ea marked the restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdom's government after the British ambassador and a British Navy captain illegally seized control.

In 1840, Mr. Richard Charlton, Hawaii's first British ambassador, arrived in the islands and began illegally claiming certain land on Oahu. When Kauikeaouli rejected the claims, Charlton left Hawaii, intending to return to England, via Mexico, so he could argue his claim to the land before Britain's Foreign Office. While in Mexico, Charlton met Lord George Paulet, a British Navy captain, and persuaded Paulet to travel with him to Hawaii to investigate his claims. Once there, Paulet seized military control of the government and had all Hawaiian flags lowered and burned in a five-month occupation that became known as the "Paulet Affair".

In light of Paulet's actions, the king sent diplomatic envoys Timoteo Haalilio and William Richards to England to present their side of the issue, ultimately gaining favor with Britain and clearing the way for removal of Paulet. Admiral Richard Thomas would later be dispatched to Hawaii, where he would remove Paulet and correct his unwarranted transgressions against the Hawaiian Kingdom and its people.

The legislature finds that, on July 31, 1843, subjects of the kingdom gathered on the grounds of what is now known as Thomas Square on the island of Oahu to witness Admiral Thomas officially restore the kingdom's government and Kauikeaouli as king. Later that day, at Kawaihao Church, the king spoke the words that would become the motto of the monarchy and in 1959 the official motto of the State of Hawaii: "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono", or "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness". The commemoration of the events that occurred on this day would come to be known as La Hoihoi Ea, or Restoration Day, the kingdom's first national holiday.

After being removed as an official holiday, many would continue to remember and celebrate it in small pockets throughout the islands until it went into obscurity. Today, La Hoihoi Ea Honolulu works in partnership with the Honolulu Mayor's Office on Culture and the Arts to plan events throughout the month of July to share the importance of this day and honor upstanding members of the Hawaiian community.

The legislature notes that there have been other efforts to recognize King Kamehameha III's accomplishments and to restore official celebrations of La Hoihoi Ea. On June 16, 2015, the County Council for the County of Hawaii unanimously passed Resolution No. 185-15, Draft 2, requesting the legislature to designate July 31 as La Hoihoi Ea, or Restoration Day. On July 31, 2018, the City and County of Honolulu marked the 175th anniversary of La Hoihoi Ea by installing a twelve-foot tall bronze statue of King Kamehameha III in Thomas Square Park. The installation includes the state motto and Hawaii's flag.

Annual gatherings take place in Waianae and Waimanalo on the island of Oahu; in Hamakua and Waimea on the island of Hawaii; and in Lahaina on the island of Maui. A small remembrance ceremony is also held each year in New York. The legislature believes that, given the strong interest in recognizing La Hoihoi Ea, the date should be made a state holiday.

The legislature also believes that it is no longer necessary to designate election days as state holidays. The original purpose of these holidays was to ensure that all citizens had the time and opportunity to vote. Vote by mail, same-day registration and voting, and other practices have made voting easier, more accessible, and more convenient. In 2019, Act 136 authorized all registered voters in Hawaii to vote by mail, beginning in 2020. The Act also allowed a limited number of voter service centers to remain open from the tenth business day preceding an election through the day of the election to receive personal delivery of mail-in ballots, accommodate voters with special needs, offer same day registration and voting, and provide other election services. At the conclusion of the 2020 election, the office of elections reported that more than sixty per cent of all registered voters in Hawaii cast their ballot by mail, while only 3.5 per cent used a service center. The legislature believes that, rather than designating election days as a state holidays, the holiday could be better used to educate the State's residents on an important part of Hawaii's history and to give Native Hawaiians the opportunity to celebrate and remember.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to remove election days as designated state holidays and to establish the thirty‑first day of July each year as the state holiday La Hoihoi Ea.

SECTION 2. Section 8-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§8-1 Holidays designated. The following days of each year are set apart and established as state holidays:

The first day in January, New Year's Day;

The third Monday in January, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day;

The third Monday in February, Presidents' Day;

The twenty-sixth day in March, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day;

The Friday preceding Easter Sunday, Good Friday;

The last Monday in May, Memorial Day;

The eleventh day in June, King Kamehameha I Day;

The fourth day in July, Independence Day;

The thirty-first day in July, La Hoihoi Ea;

The third Friday in August, Statehood Day;

The first Monday in September, Labor Day;

The eleventh day in November, Veterans' Day;

The fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day; and

The twenty-fifth day in December, Christmas Day[;].

[~~All election days, except primary and special election days, in the county wherein the election is held;~~]

Any day designated by proclamation by the President of the United States or by the governor as a holiday."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2475
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII