STAND. COM. REP. NO. 34-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1815

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 Culture & Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 1815 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to explicitly apply existing grant standards to Performing Arts Grants Program grants under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Your Committee finds that while the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts administers various grants that support Hawaii's cultural and artistic programming, statutory language has not clearly extended existing grant standards to the Performing Arts Grants Program. This lack of clarity may create confusion regarding eligibility, application procedures, and oversight. This measure explicitly applies the same qualifying, contracting, and monitoring requirements to performing arts grants as are required for other grants under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, reinforcing uniform procedures and strengthening oversight across all grant programs administered by the Foundation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Culture & Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1815, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1815, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JEANNE KAPELA, Chair