STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3380

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2433

H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2433, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that priority be given to the language of a law that aligns with the intent of the Legislature if there is a difference between the English and Hawaiian versions of the law that is material to its interpretation.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and four individuals.

Your Committee finds that other jurisdictions that operate within bilingual legal frameworks give equal authority to statutes written in more than one language and require courts to resolve discrepancies by identifying the meaning that best reflects legislative intent. Aligning the State's approach to bilingual statutes with existing models in other jurisdictions, as this measure does, would provide a consistent and administrable standard, affirm the State's constitutional mandate to promote ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, ensure that laws in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi are treated with equal dignity, avoid symbolic recognition without practical effect, and support both past and future bilingual drafting initiatives.

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 H.B. No. 2433, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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HERBERT M. RICHARDS, III, Chair