STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 64
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 603
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 603 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN BUSINESS MARKETING,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to administer and oversee a Native Hawaiian Marketing Program to promote businesses owned by native Hawaiians through marketing and technical assistance;
(2) Require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to submit reports on the status of the Native Hawaiian Marketing Program; and
(3) Appropriate funds for the Native Hawaiian Marketing Program.
Your Committee finds that Hawaiian-owned businesses are indispensable to the State's communities as those businesses create jobs, grow the local economy, advance Hawaiian entrepreneurship, and advance cultural preservation. Your Committee further finds that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has concerns regarding enforcement of the proposed initiative and proposes that the appropriation be reallocated for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to establish a working group.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting language that would have established the Native Hawaiian Marketing Program;
(2) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;
(3) Reallocating the appropriation for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to convene a working group to engage with relevant stakeholders about program design, implementation, and long-term viability of a Native Hawaiian Marketing Program to promote and support the success of businesses owned by Hawaiians through marketing and technical assistance;
(4) Amending the information required for the reports by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;
(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and
(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $350,000.
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. 603, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 603, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,
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____________________________ DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair |
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