STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2128-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2852

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2852, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CIVIL RIGHTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission to adopt rules implementing the prohibition against inaccessible information and communication technology, consistent with the United States Department of Justice Title II web accessibility framework; and

(2) Confirm that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for a place of public accommodation to deny a person with a disability full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation, or information related thereto, by requiring the use of information and communication technology that is not accessible to the person with a disability.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Disability and Communication Access Board; Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; Aloha Independent Living Hawaii; National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that access to information and communication technology is increasingly essential for full participation in modern commerce and civic life. Your Committee further finds that clarifying digital accessibility obligations through administrative rulemaking will provide greater certainty for providers of public accommodations while promoting equal access for persons with disabilities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the applicability of the web accessibility framework established by the United States Department of Justice; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2852, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2852, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair