STAND. COM. REP. NO. 494

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 643

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 643 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require that, beginning on January 1, 2020, all public acts and transactions be in the Hawaiian language; and

 

     (2)  Provide that upon any request by a member of the public for a Hawaiian language version of any government record, paper, or document, the public officer having care and custody of the record, paper, or document shall make all reasonable efforts to make that government record, paper, or document available in the Hawaiian language.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from numerous individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that Article XV, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution establishes that English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawaii.  The Legislature has supported past efforts to incorporate the Hawaiian language into official state writings, emblems, and signs, as the use of proper Hawaiian macrons and glottal stops shows not only the deserved respect for the native language of these islands, but also fully comports with the intent and purpose of the state constitution.

 

     In addition, article X, section 4, of the Hawaii state constitution provides in pertinent part, "The State shall promote the study of Hawaiian culture, history and language."  Despite these constitutional provisions, the Hawaiian language is conspicuously absent in official government publications and documents.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by deleting its contents and replacing them with provisions to require, beginning January 1, 2018, that all newly created, replaced, or reprinted state and county documents, letterheads, symbols, and emblems contain accurate, appropriate, and authentic Hawaiian names and language.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 643, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 643, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Government Operations,

 

________________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair

 

________________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair