STAND. COM. REP. NO. 384

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 47

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 47 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE HOLIDAYS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Designate the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice of each year as the Lunar New Year; and

(2) Establish the Lunar New Year as a state holiday.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from five individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Office of Collective Bargaining and Department of Human Resources of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees find that currently, the Lunar New Year is not officially a state holiday. Many Asian cultures celebrate the Lunar New Year, and it is an important event for several communities in the State. This measure will acknowledge the importance of multicultural celebrations in Hawaii by establishing the Lunar New Year as a state holiday.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Labor and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 47, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 47, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Labor and Technology,

________________________________ HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair