STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2530

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3251

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 3251 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the Department of Law Enforcement, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Taxation, and Department of the Attorney General from appointing or employing former United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol agents and employees as law enforcement officers.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Imua Alliance, Roots Reborn, Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, CARES, and fifty-nine individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from five individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that a series of troubling incidents involving federal agents across the country raises important questions about accountability. Public safety and constitutional fidelity are inseparable, making any violation of an individual's constitutional rights a potential threat to public confidence in law enforcement. It is in the interest of public safety in the State to require the highest standards of constitutional compliance among the State's law enforcement agencies. This measure does not regulate federal immigration policy or the conduct of federal law enforcement officers, but rather defines the qualifications and standards for employment by a law enforcement agency in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Updating legislative findings;

(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.

Your Committees note concerns that the State already suffers from a shortage of law enforcement officers and that this measure could undermine efforts to employ additional officers. Moreover, if law enforcement officers currently employed by the State or counties obtain new employment with federal immigration enforcement agencies, this measure could exacerbate the existing shortage of law enforcement officers. Accordingly, your Committees respectfully request that subsequent Committees to which this measure is referred consider this issue.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3251, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3251, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology,

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair

________________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair