STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2962

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2256

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2256 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BROTHER JOSEPH DUTTON DAY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to designate April 27 of every year as Brother Joseph Dutton Day.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services, The Joseph Dutton Guild, and four individuals.

Your Committee finds that Joseph Dutton was a Civil War veteran who vowed to atone his personal struggles through Catholicism where he discovered the work of Father Damien at the Kalaupapa Settlement. Your Committee further finds that he made his way to Kalaupapa in 1886 where he dedicated the rest of his life, forty-four years, in service to the patients with Hansen's disease. Your Committee believes that Brother Joseph Dutton's extraordinary life of service and dedication deserves recognition on April 27 every year, which is not only his birthday, but also the day he was received into the Catholic church through baptism and changed his name to Joseph, commemorating the beginning of his new life. This measure will honor the hard work and dedication of Brother Joseph Dutton to the Kalaupapa patients and bring awareness to this legacy and Hansen's disease.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2256 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair