STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2350

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3218

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 3218 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the issuance of special number plates to commemorate Malama Puuloa.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hui O Hoʻohonua.

Your Committee finds that while Keawalau o Puuloa, also known as Puuloa or Pearl Harbor, was once an abundant water resource, it has been exposed and contaminated with toxic chemicals and materials that have harmed the local ecosystems. Your Committee further finds that Malama Puuloa, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2015 with a mission to restore Puuloa to abundance, has shown dedication to community environmentalism through their work including education, partnerships with the community, land-based programs, and involving over ten thousand volunteers committed to their work. This measure will promote the organization's legacy of natural resource management, perpetuation of Native Hawaiian culture, and environmentalism by authorizing a special number plate to recognize the significance and impact of Malama Puuloa.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language to limit the special number plate design to four and a half inches in height by four and a half inches in width;

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

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3218, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3218, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair