STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2423

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2042

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Technology and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2042 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CULTURAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN HAWAII AND PUERTO RICO,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a Puerto Rican Exchange Commission to coordinate a cultural exchange program between Hawaii and Puerto Rico to honor and recognize the contributions of the Puerto Rican people and commemorate the arrival of the Puerto Ricans to Hawaii.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Iolani Palace Executive Director.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committees find that since the arrival of the first Puerto Ricans in Hawaii on December 23, 1900, the Puerto Rican people have contributed significantly to all phases of Hawaii's development.  The rich culture and proud heritage of the Puerto Rican people have been and continue to be positive influences upon life in Hawaii.  Recognition of the contributions of the Puerto Rican people and their culture is important to promotion and awareness of Hawaii's diverse and multicultural society.

     Your Committees note that there is a considerable amount of cultural similarities between Hawaii and Puerto Rico and that there are activities that have already been established and are ongoing to celebrate and encourage cultural exchanges between Hawaii and Puerto Rico.  For example, the Puerto Rican nationalist art movement shares common themes with Hawaiian sovereignty art.  The Puerto Rican Heritage Society of Hawaii is dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of knowledge of the history, culture, and arts of the Puerto Ricans in Hawaii.  Hawaii's Plantation Village hosted a "Puerto Rican Day on the Plantation" on April 10, 2010, as part of its ongoing "Relive the Plantation Days" cultural program.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Technology and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2042 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Technology and the Arts,

____________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair