STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2513

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2603

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 Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2603 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Designate the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the "State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra";

(2) Require the President and Chief Executive Officer of the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra to provide annual reports to the Legislature; and

(3) Appropriate funds for the general operating costs of the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony; Musicians' Association of Hawaii; Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association; Servco Pacific, Inc.; Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance; ABC Stores; and ninety-four individuals.

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

Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra has provided a public service to the State for over a hundred years through its beloved performances, free and educational programming, support of artists and the arts economy, and promotion of Hawaiian musical culture. Your Committee further finds that public funding plays a crucial role in sustaining and enriching the arts, especially in ways that the private market alone often cannot. This measure will sustain the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and ensure it continues to enrich the State for generations to come by designating it as the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and enabling it to regularly obtain state funds to help cover its general operating costs.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting legislative findings that clarify the public purpose of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and the depth of its history and ties to the State;

(2) Inserting language to clarify that the appropriated funds are for the general operating costs of the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, including matching funds for any performance made open to the public and held at a state facility or institution or on state property; and

(3) Inserting a blank appropriation amount.

Your Committee notes that this measure, as amended, contains an appropriation for an unspecified amount. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an amount of $500,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027.

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. 2603, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2603, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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CHRIS LEE, Chair