STAND. COM. REP. NO. 120

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1609

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1609 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for certain departments and agencies to provide grants to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations that have experience and expertise in supporting and advancing Native Hawaiian communities.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Ko‘olau Foundation; Kapolei Chamber of Commerce; Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o; one member of the City Council of the County of Maui; and two individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that various assistance and education programs for improving Native Hawaiian communities are effective and necessary. These programs include Hawaiian historic preservation, development of a mill to process ulu and taro, business and entrepreneurship mentoring, farming, cultural training, and environmental management. Therefore, the purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for departments to contribute to these nonprofit organization efforts.

Your Committee has heard the testimony of the Department of the Attorney General, expressing concerns that this measure does not contain sufficient standards for grants of public money pursuant to article VII, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution.

Therefore, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding additional grant conditions sufficient to comply with article VII, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution;

(2) Amending Act 195, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, to include this measure's additional grant requirements; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1609, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1609, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair