STAND. COM. REP. NO. 994-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2593

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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2593, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MAUNA KEA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to extend existing leases and subleases for up to an additional ten-year term.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce and Maunakea Observatories. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Green Party of Hawaiʻi; ʻO Makuʻu Ke Kahua; Pōkaku Pelemaka; Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi; Malu ʻAina Center for Non-Violent Education & Action; HULI PAC; Chamber of Sustainable Commerce; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority and University of Hawaiʻi System.

Your Committee finds that observatories atop Mauna Kea serve as a hub for astronomical and scientific research. Your Committee further finds that the observatories on Mauna Kea operate through lease agreements and that to prevent disruptions of scientific research, the State must ensure orderly transitions as these leases near expiration. This measure promotes the continuity of observatory operations on Mauna Kea by authorizing the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to extend existing leases and subleases.

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 H.B. No. 2593, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair