STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2478

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2202

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2202 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VOLUNTEER MONTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to designate the month of April each year as the State's volunteer month to honor volunteers in the community and encourage participation in service projects throughout the month.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Aloha United Way, Girl Scouts of Hawaii, Ali‘i Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club, and five individuals.

Your Committee finds that volunteers play a critical and irreplaceable role in the non-profit sector and its ability to effectively provide essential support to the community in various areas, including tutoring and educational assistance, emergency response, environmental clean ups, homelessness and food distribution, sports leagues, and animal shelters. Your Committee further finds that the selfless dedication of services by volunteers, including administration of vaccines; testing and contact tracing; and distribution of food, water, and other necessities to individuals who were required to stay home, has been essential to the community while the nation confronted and continues to recover from the disturbances caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Your Committee also finds that in 1974, the United States, through presidential proclamation, designated the third week of April as National Volunteer Week to support, extend, and enhance the vital and valuable services offered by volunteers. In 1991, the month of April became National Volunteer Month as part of President George H. W. Bush's A Thousand Points of Light campaign, as a month dedicated to honoring the volunteers in communities and encouraging volunteerism. On April 16, 2021, the current federal administration issued a proclamation designating April 18 through April 24, 2021, as National Volunteer Week, calling upon all Americans to observe the week by volunteering in service projects across the country and pledging to make service a part of their daily lives. Your Committee believes that designating the month of April each year as the State's volunteer month will honor volunteers in the community and encourage participation in service projects throughout the month.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2202 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair