STAND. COM. REP. NO. 196-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2235

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.B. No. 2235 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE MILITARY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Military and Community Relations Office within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to enhance the State's capacity for intergovernmental coordination, communication, and program administration responsibilities related to military and defense activities, workforce development, business readiness, and in-state manufacturing and sustainment capacity.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi National Guard; Military and Community Relations Office; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Military and Community Relations Office serves as the State's day-to-day link between military commands, state and county agencies, schools, businesses, and community stakeholders, helping partners navigate issues that rarely fall within a single entity's purview. Your Committee further finds that this measure supports the Military and Community Relations Office's efforts to connect local businesses with federal buyers and contracting pathways, align community college and training programs with shipyard and industrial workforce needs, coordinate with installations and state agencies to address infrastructure and community interface challenges, and convene cross-sector partners to streamline communication during high-impact projects.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;

(2) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 appropriating $1,300,000 for the Military and Community Relations Office.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2235, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2235, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Economic Development & Technology.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair