STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1410-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2055

S.D. 1

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 S.B. No. 2055, S.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 Civil Rights Commission to establish a twenty-four-hour intake helpline for individuals to submit reports of harms from federal deployments in the State;

(2)  Require the Civil Rights Commission to collect, aggregate, and report data derived from helpline reports to inform the Legislature and the public regarding civil rights-related harms in the State;

(3) Appropriate funds to establish positions within the Civil Rights Commission; and

(4) Appropriate funds for the Civil Rights Commission to contract with Aloha United Way to implement the twenty-four-hour intake helpline and for website and data development costs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency; Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission; Roots Reborn; El Pueblo en Acción Maui; Imua Alliance; UNITE HERE Local 5; Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association; Hawaiʻi Women Lawyers; ACLU Hawaiʻi; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from Aloha United Way.

Your Committee finds that the helpline would be more effective if it were established to assist individuals who experience or witness any civil rights violation in the State. This broader scope will enhance access to assistance and ensure more comprehensive intake of civil rights-related concerns.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the scope of the helpline to assist individuals who experience or witness civil rights violations in the State, rather than limiting the helpline to reports of harms associated with specified federal enforcement activities;

(2) Allowing the Civil Rights Commission to contract for the operation of the helpline without regard to the Hawaii Public Procurement Code;

(3) Clarifying that reports and communications received or maintained by a contractor operating the helpline on behalf of the Civil Rights Commission are confidential and treated as records of the Commission;

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

(5) 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. 2055, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2055, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair