STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2583

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3024

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 Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 3024 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEX-BASED DISCRIMINATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Clarify and strengthen the State's protections against sex-based harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation that occur in public schools, public charter schools, or at the University of Hawaii, including discrimination based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and pregnancy-related conditions;

(2) Establish procedures for investigations and decision‑making; and

(3) Require mandatory reporting by certain employees.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Education Caucus; HOKU PAC; Hawaiʻi State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Plus Commission; Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Every Voice; Fujiwara & Rosenbaum, LLLC; PFLAG Oʻahu; AAUW of Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; Hawaiʻi State Democratic Women's Caucus; Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates; Visibility Brigade Honolulu; Indivisible Leeward Oahu; a form letter signed by one hundred and eighty-four individuals; and thirty-seven individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Moms for Liberty, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, and five individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, University of Hawaiʻi System, and Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that annual reports from the University of Hawaii, Department of Education schools, and state public charter schools on Title IX sex-based discrimination and non-Title IX sexual harassment complaints received by the schools suggest that, when compared with data from student surveys, incidents of sex-based discrimination and sex-based harassment go largely unreported. Your Committee further finds that the current federal administration has expressed an intention to eliminate certain federal civil rights protections and leave these issues to the states. As the State largely relies on increasingly weakened federal Title IX protections to regulate cases of sex-based harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, it is critical to enact stronger protections at the state level. This measure will support higher academic performance and long-term well-being for all students by safeguarding inclusive, protective educational environments.

Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony by the University of Hawaii System that this measure may overlap and conflict with certain detailed federal regulations that exist in the same place and that the measure would thus benefit from a comprehensive legal review to ensure the provisions of this measure are legally sustainable. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address this matter.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to require the Department of the Attorney General to conduct a comprehensive legal review by an unspecified date to ensure that the provisions of this measure comply with existing federal regulations;

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

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3024, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3024, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair