STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3615

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 181

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 181 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTS THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE CREATION OF A MARSHALLESE COMMUNITY CENTER IN HAWAIIAN OCEAN VIEW ESTATES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the County of Hawai‘i to conduct a feasibility study on the creation of a Marshallese Community Center in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one member of the Hawai‘i County Council.

Your Committee finds the effects of the United States' nuclear testing in the central Pacific from 1946 to 1958, including in and above the Marshall Islands, now known as the Republic of the Marshall Islands, resulted in numerous inhabitants being forced to relocate to other countries. This Marshallese diaspora includes the approximately fourteen hundred migrants who currently reside in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates in the County of Hawai‘i. Your Committee further finds that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated the public health crisis for Pacific Islanders, including lack of access to health care and disparities in other social determinants of health, resulting in non-Hawaiian Pacific Islanders making up more than a quarter of COVID-19 cases, despite comprising just four percent of the State's population. This measure will allow policy makers to obtain necessary information pertaining to the feasibility of creating a Marshallese Community Center in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates to assist the Marshallese community by providing various services, including group activities, public information and assistance, social support, and perpetuation of culture.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 181, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 181, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair