STAND. COM. REP. NO. 886-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 1861

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1861, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NUMBER PLATES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require license plates issued on or after January 1, 2025, to include an ʻokina in the word Hawaiʻi; and

(2) Authorize the use of all uppercase letters, all lowercase letters, or initial capital letters for the words "Hawaiʻi" and "Aloha State" in license plates.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Hawaiʻi and Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State enacted Act 170, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, which requires the inclusion of consistent Hawaiian names, words, and spelling in state and county letterheads. This measure would further expand these efforts by requiring an ʻokina in the word "Hawaiʻi" on state license plates.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1861, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1861, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair