STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2421
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2734
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2734 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY'S OLELO HAWAII INITIATIVES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for staff positions and various services to support the Ōlelo Hawaii Initiatives.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.
Your Committee finds that article XV, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution affirms that English and Ōlelo Hawaii (Hawaiian language) shall be the official languages of the State. Your Committee further finds that the Judiciary has already taken initial steps to explore ways of providing Ōlelo Hawaii 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 Hawaii resources for the Judiciary. The task force report made several findings including that Ōlelo Hawaii "possesses appropriate specificity, sophistication, and technical breadth of terminology to accurately translate legal terminology from English into Ōlelo Hawaii." 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 Hawaii. 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.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2734 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
|
|
|
________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
|
|
|
|