STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 86
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2023
RE: H.B. No. 1128
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1128 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUPPORT FOR TRADITIONAL NATIVE SPEAKERS OF HAWAIIAN,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Define the term "Hawaiian" with regard to Hawaii's official languages and require that every effort shall be made to accommodate Hawaiian speakers and readers;
(2) Require the Department of Education schools to recognize the Hawaiian language as the sole indigenous language of the Hawaiian islands, define Hawaiian language for that purpose, and authorize the Department to offer a course in Hawaiian language; and
(3) Appropriate funds to the State Public Charter School Commission to study the Hawaiian language and for the publication of educational resource materials for native speakers of the Hawaiian language.
Your Committee finds that families of Niihau, who live on Niihau and Kauai, have maintained the language of their ancestors and are now the only true community of Hawaiian language native speakers left in the world who use Hawaiian as their primary language. This sets them apart from learners in schools and classrooms of the Hawaiian islands whose primary language is English or another language, where native-speaker communities no longer exist. Your Committee believes that more support is needed to this community through better understanding of their language and developing educational and community resource materials in their language.
Your Committee also recognizes that there is a need to support Hawaiian language native speakers in interacting with government procedures. When certain public records, including documents, notices, and medical records, are created in or translated into Hawaiian, native speakers of Hawaiian need these records in the language and orthography that they understand best, and not in the version of the Hawaiian language used currently that they do not understand.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Applying the provisions of this measure specifically to any island with a population of five hundred or less;
(2) Deleting language which would have entitled students who successfully complete a course in Hawaiian language to receive credit for that course toward satisfaction of the world language requirement of a public school;
(3) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;
(4) Changing its effective date to June 30, 3000; and
(5) 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 the appropriation amount of $50,000.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1128, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1128, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,
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____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair |
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