STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3410

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1870

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1870, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY'S ‘ŌLELO HAWAI‘I INITIATIVES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for a program coordinator and various services to support the Judiciary's ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i initiatives.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and four individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committees find that article XV, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution affirms that English and ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) shall be the official languages of the State. Your Committees further find that the Judiciary has already taken initial steps to explore ways of providing ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i resources, interpreter, and translation services to the public. To advance this work, in 2015, the Legislature adopted a concurrent resolution, H.C.R. No. 217, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, that requested the Judiciary to convene a task force to examine and report on establishing ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i resources for the Judiciary. The task force report made several findings including that ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i "possesses appropriate specificity, sophistication, and technical breadth of terminology to accurately translate legal terminology from English into ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i." Further, the task force found that as an independent branch of government, the Judiciary could effectively serve as a focused model to demonstrate the use of ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i. The task force report made several recommendations and identified projects that can serve as a guide to the Judiciary. This measure will appropriate funds to support the implementation of the recommendations and ultimately the revitalization of the Hawaiian language.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a $300,000 appropriation amount to support the Judiciary's ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i projects as follows:

(A) $100,000 for a program coordinator; and

(B) $200,000 for implementation, including translation services, website upgrades, preparation of materials, and educational efforts; and

(2) Making it effective on July 1, 2022.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1870, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1870, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair