Bill Text: HI SB3007 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Indigenous Peoples' Day; Holidays

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-03-08 - (H) Referred to HAW/CUA, FIN, referral sheet 41 [SB3007 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SB3007-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2523

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 3007

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Economic Development and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 3007 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to designate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day, rather than Discoverers' Day.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Kewalo Hawaiian Homestead Community Association, Ka Pakaukau, United Confederation of Taino People, and twelve individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and Ke Aupuni o Hawaii.

 

     Your Committees find that the intent of this measure is to express solidarity with and support for indigenous peoples.  As recognized in the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.  Your Committees further find that Indigenous Peoples' Day should also serve as a memorial to the State's recognition of the Native peoples of Hawaii and stand as a testament to that recognition.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Retaining language in section 8-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that recognizes the Polynesian discoverers of the Hawaiian Islands;

 

     (2)  Deleting language that recognizes indigenous people who have survived the past five hundred years and calls for educating the general public about the ongoing plight of indigenous people;

 

     (3)  Inserting language that recognizes the accomplishments of indigenous voyagers who settled the Pacific Ocean before Columbus was born and designates Indigenous Peoples' Day as a day to educate the general public on the State of Hawaii's obligations to the Native peoples of Hawaii; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Economic Development and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3007, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3007, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Economic Development and Technology,

 

____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair		____________________________ BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Chair