STAND. COM. REP. NO.  952-22

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2022

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1986

      H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1986, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require at least one at-large member of the Board of Education to be a Hawaiian immersion expert selected from a list of nominees submitted by the Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Kamehameha Schools; Hawaii State Teachers Association; Aha Kauleo; Kuakini Hawaiian Civic Club of Kona; Hui Makua o Pūōhala; Kanaeokana; The School Community Council of Kula Kaiapuni o Ānuenue; Ka Aumanu; Nā Leo Kākoo; Hawaiian Civic Club of Hilo; Aloha Āina Legal Group, LLLC; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Nā Leo Kākoo O Maui, Inc.; and numerous individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Education.

 

     Your Committee finds that Olelo Hawaii, the Hawaiian language, has been the native language of Hawaii's indigenous people for over two thousand years and has provided the foundation for the establishment and development of Hawaiian society.  In 1978, the Constitution of the State of Hawaii was amended to include article X, section 4, which requires the State to promote the study of Hawaiian culture, history, and language; and article XV, section 4, which states that English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawaii, reaffirming the State's constitutional responsibility.

 

     Your Committee further finds that existing law does not require any member of the Board of Education to be an individual with expertise in Hawaiian studies, the Hawaiian language, or Hawaiian immersion education.  This measure will require at least one at-large member of the Board of Education to be a Hawaiian immersion expert.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Hawaiian immersion expert to be selected from a list of three nominees submitted by the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which will each nominate one person, rather than requiring the Hawaiian immersion expert to be selected from a list of nominees submitted by the Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1986, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1986, H.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair