STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3398

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1878

H.D. 2

S.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 Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1878, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISCRIMINATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit discrimination based on:

(1) The perception that a person possesses certain characteristics;

(2) The perception that a person is associated with a person who possesses, or is perceived to possess, certain characteristics; or

(3) The intersection or combination of two or more specified characteristics in relation to a person.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi State LGBTQ+ Commission, Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, American Association of University Women of Hawaiʻi, Pride at Work - Hawaiʻi, Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, ACLU of Hawaiʻi, and nine individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Society of Human Resource Management – Hawaii and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that federal civil rights protections have been weakened, creating an environment in which marginalized communities have been increasingly targeted. Your Committee further finds that while discrimination is often rooted in bias and assumption rather than fact, it has very real consequences. Individuals have been unfairly denied housing, employment, health care, and public accommodations based on their characteristics or perceived characteristics. Your Committee also finds that people do not experience discrimination in isolated silos as people belonging to multiple protected classes often face layered and intensified discrimination. This measure will strengthen the State's civil rights protections by broadening the scope of protection for individuals within the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Making it effective upon its approval; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1878, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1878, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair