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, Hawai‘i 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,
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____________________________ CEDRIC ASUEGA GATES, Chair |
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