STAND. COM. REP. NO.  74-22

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2022

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2491

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2491 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require:

 

     (1)  Official stationery and websites of designated state officials to include the Hawaiian translation of the office's or department's name; and

 

     (2)  All letterheads, documents, symbols, and emblems of the State and counties and state highway signs that include Hawaiian names and words to include Hawaiian names, words, spelling, and punctuation consistent with certain references.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies, and two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

 

     Your Committee finds that the first written versions of Hawaiian did not include the use of okina and kahakō and that these marks were subsequently developed to help learners of the Hawaiian language determine when to elongate a vowel or insert a glottal stop.  Your Committee notes that there are some Native Hawaiian speakers who still utilize written Hawaiian without the use of okina and kahakō.  Your Committee does not intend this measure to establish the superiority of one version of orthography over the other, or to invalidate communities of Native Hawaiian speakers who do not follow contemporary Hawaiian writing or structures.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the use of certain references for the consistent spelling of Hawaiian names and words shall only be used if the document, publication, or state highway sign is intended for use specifically in a community where a unique dialect is commonly used;

 

     (2)  Requiring the University of Hawaii to compile a full list of all dialects and other variations of the Hawaiian language currently in use;

 

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2044, to encourage further discussion; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2491, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2491, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Culture, Arts, & International Affairs,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

CEDRIC ASUEGA GATES, Chair