STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1662-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2054

S.D. 2

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. 2054, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the Hawaii National Guard from deploying to assist federal troops, federal law enforcement, or the National Guard of any other state operating in Hawaii when the Governor has objected in writing to the deployments.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Community Alliance on Prisons; UNITE HERE Local 5; Imua Alliance; The Legal Clinic; Libertarian Party of Hawaii; Mercado de la Raza; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; Roots Reborn; Kona Indivisible; Matriarchy Rising; Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Fujiwara & Rosenbaum, LLC; and numerous individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Defense and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Military Affairs Council.

Your Committee finds that recent federal deployments of military and law enforcement forces, including National Guard units, have raised serious concerns regarding civil liberties, state sovereignty, and local accountability. Your Committee believes that this measure is necessary to ensure that the Hawaii National Guard is not used to assist federal or out-of-state operations within Hawaii when such deployments lack the consent of the Governor, and to protect the State's authority over the use of its own military resources.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the Governor's objection is required to be provided to the Administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency; 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2054, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2054, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair