STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1272

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 733

S.D. 1

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 Culture, Arts & International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAWAIIAN CULTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to establish and maintain a minimum number of cultural centers within the State;

(2) Require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to submit compliance reports; and

(3) Appropriate funds for the planning and design of the first Native Hawaiian cultural center.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Your Committee finds that there are benefits to having communal centers that serve as pu‘uhonua (places of peace and safety) for cultural practitioners, hālau (meeting places) for community organizers, and ka wahi o ka na‘auao (places of enlightenment) to bring together ka wā ma mua me ka wā ma hope (the time before with the time after). Your Committee further finds that many Native Hawaiians still return to wahi pana (storied places) and wahi kapu (sacred places) for cultural purposes; however, accessibility to culturally significant spaces; accessibility to connections with their ancestors, their teachings, and their history; and accessibility to each other continue to be significant issues that could be adequately addressed through a contemporary system of Native Hawaiian cultural centers.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to establish and maintain a minimum number of Native Hawaiian cultural centers within the State;

(2) Requiring the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to conduct a feasibility study on establishing Native Hawaiian cultural centers within the State;

(3) Changing the purpose of the appropriation to funding the feasibility study;

(4) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs and your Committee on Finance, should they deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $100,000. Your Committee also notes that no representative from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs came to testify and answer any questions on this measure. If the Office of Hawaiian Affairs supports this measure and wants to receive funding to implement it, your Committee suggests that a representative of the Office be present at the next hearing.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs,

____________________________

ADRIAN K. TAM, Chair