STAND. COM. REP. NO. 377

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 57

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 57 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY'S ‘OLELO HAWAI‘I INITIATIVES,"

beg 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 Hawai‘i initiatives of the Judiciary.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and five individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committees find that article XV, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution affirms that English and ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) shall be the official languages of the State. Your Committees further find that the Judiciary has already taken initial steps to explore ways of providing ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i resources, interpreter, and translation services to the public. To advance this work, 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 Hawai‘i resources for the Judiciary. The task force report made several findings, including that ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i "possesses appropriate specificity, sophistication, and technical breadth of terminology to accurately translate legal terminology from English into ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i.". 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 Hawai‘i. 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 Judiciary's ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i initiatives and ultimately the revitalization of the Hawaiian language.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Appropriating $300,000 to the Judiciary to support ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i projects rather than appropriating funds for positions and services; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 57, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 57, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair