STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2604

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2916

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. 2916 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE ARCHIVES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the planning, designing, environmental studies, site evaluation and selection studies, and permitting conducted relative to a new facility for the State Archives.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services and three individuals.

Your Committee finds that the facilities of the State Archives Division are dated and at capacity. Your Committee is aware that the Division was established by statute in 1905, and that it collects, preserves, and makes publicly available state records and artifacts of permanent value on behalf of the State and its people. This measure will ensure the Division can continue to preserve the history of the State for future generations.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation amount from $4,000,000 to an unspecified amount to encourage further discussion on this measure; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

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. 2916, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2916, 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