Senate Floor

Will the Senate please come to order? Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]. Twenty-one present. Four excused.

Thank you. The chair has read the journal of the preceding day and approves the same. Any introductions this morning? Senator Rhoads.

Thank you, Mr. President. Before I introduce the rest of my staff who came down to see Sarah's moment of contemplation, I want to introduce some old friends. Emilio Belai, would you please stand? He's responsible for me meeting my wife indirectly, so I owe him an eternal debt. His, his, his wife, Cassandra Nesmith, is also with him. They're visiting here. Their son Maxwell is serving in the Navy at Pearl Harbor. Thank you for being here. Please give them a round of applause.

Further introductions? Oh, I'm sorry. You are going to introduce your staff?

I was going to introduce my staff, if that's okay.

Yes, please proceed.

Jessica Feig has been my longtime legislative attorney, Glenn Young's my office manager, Moya Gray--I don't believe he's here--Teddy Brokaw, legislative attorney, Imiloa Borland, committee clerk, Mia Ogata, legislative aide, Sara Thorn, a legislative aide you've already met, Payton Haygood, an legislative intern, and Mattheo Cadiz and Braden Chung are interns, but they're not here until this afternoon. So thank you very much, and--

Thank you. Further, further introduction? Senator DeCoite.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'd also like to introduce two special people from Kauai, our Kauai County Council Vice Chair KipuKai Kuali'i, and Kauai County Council Member Bernard Carvalho. Welcome to the Senate. Mr. President, I would also like to recognize from our hotel tourism area and the beautiful event that was put on today, with us is HTA, Kalani Ka'ana'ana, Daniel Naho'opi'i, Aaron Salah, and of course, missing is Tyler Gomes and Chair Mufi Hannemann. Thank you for being here. Welcome to the Senate. Mahalo. Thank you.

So, before going on, I don't want anybody to think that Senator DeCoite was in any trouble when I walked over to her. The council members from Kauai are of Portuguese ancestry. We have special guests from Portugal who have not yet arrived that she was going to introduce. I was just letting her know we may do a late introduction. Senator Kanuha.

Thank you, Mr. President. It is always a privilege to welcome our keiki to the State Capitol, and today I am especially honored to recognize an amazing group of students and chaperones from Kahakai Elementary School--my alma mater--in Kailua-Kona who are joining us today in the gallery.

When I call your name, could you please stand up to be recognized? And colleagues, if you could please hold your applause until the end? We would really appreciate it. Student Council President Cohen Fediuk--I hope I said your name correctly. I was looking that up. And anyways, Student Council Vice President Lawai'a Silva, Treasurer Levi Ezzo, Secretary Kristen Devito, Historian Adeline Adair, Sergeant at Arms Lau'oha Elvenia, Junior Police Officer Kody Miranda, and 2025 May Day queen Riley Costales.

We also have Principal Kori Takaki and Vice Principal Ka'ea Yglesias. Colleagues, please join me in giving a warm Senate welcome to the students and administrators from Kahakai Elementary School.

Tyler, Senator DeCoite announced your name while you were not present. How about giving everybody a wave now that you have made it? Do we have any further introductions? Senator Kim.

Mr. President, thank you very much. Joining us in the Gallery today are four students from the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business Travel Industry Management Program. These students are a mix of Ho'oilina Scholars and Hilton Scholars, and so please rise when I call your name: Sally Citrawireja, Leslie Ann Agustin, Kana Wang, and Masumi Iwai, and accompanying them, our academic advisor, Kaitlin Tilitile and Director and Professor Dr. Daniel Spencer, and we welcome you to our State Senate. Thank you.

Do we have any further introductions? If not, Madam Clerk.

On page one, Governor's Message Numbers 713 to 717: transmit nominations to various boards and commissions.

File. Oh, Governor's Message Numbers 713 to 717 are referred in accordance with the referrals listed on the Order of the Day.

Governor's Message Number 718 withdraws a nomination to the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund.

File.

On page two, Introduction of Measures, Senate Concurrent Resolution Numbers 51 to 67 and Senate Resolution Numbers 33 to 51 for referral to committee.

So ordered.

Referrals and re-referrals.

Referrals and re-referrals are made in accordance with the supplemental Orders of the Day that may be filed later today.

No further business, Mr. President.

Are there any announcements today? If not, the chair has one announcement. The deadline to file Senate Concurrent Resolutions and Senate Resolutions for introduction with the Clerk's Office is at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. Senator DeCoite.

Mr. President, I rise on a point of personal interest.

Please proceed.

I'd like to thank everybody for coming out today, Tourism Day at the Capitol. I think this year, our eighth annual was an amazing year as they were able to share a lot of what they're doing and showcase many of the industry folks that have been put abroad. I'd like to give special attention, of course, to HTA, to HVCB, to CNHA, Kilohana. What an amazing job in making such a big turnout.

They've been super instrumental with our youth and the new programs that we have infused into the tourism industry, so I'd like to give a big shout out and thank you all for coming today. And as you guys make your way around and they're starting to clean up, if you do stop by and say aloha. Thank you, Mr. President.

Then Senator DeCoite, our guests have not arrived, but they have been here since yesterday. They were touring the archives where they were paying special attention to the Portuguese immigration and later this afternoon in the tour of Iolani Palace. There is also reference to some of the Portuguese arrivals here, so if you could just read what you are going to do so we will at least have their names here in the journal. But the archives must be fascinating.

Thank you, Mr. President. And on behalf of all Portuguese and my job that I've done to contribute to the Portuguese heritage, I would like to thank you, Mr. President. Visiting us from Lisbon, Portugal are members from the Luso-American Development Foundation, also known as FLAD.

FLAD is a private, nonprofit, financially independent Portuguese institution that strives to promote the development of Portugal, the Portuguese, and the Portuguese descendants in our communities through the cooperation with the United States of America, as well as the Native Hawaiians that have incorporated their bloodline into the Portuguese.

So joining us--which should have been today and they were in the Gallery--is the President of FLAD, Nuno Morais Sarmento, Director for Transatlantic Relations, Miguel Vaz, and Coordinator of the Transatlantic Relations, Leonor Barroso. So I'd like to thank them for being here and getting to know more about our culture, and of course, they are also part of tourism, so I would just like to say thank you. Mahalo, Mr. President.

Thank you. If there are no further announcements, the chair has one: the deadline to file Senate concurrent--I did this already. Senator Wakai.

Mr. President, I move that the Senate stand in recess, leaving the journal open until 4:30 p.m. for the receipt of Senate Concurrent Resolutions and Senate Resolutions, and I further move that the Senate reconvene at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, March 10th.

Senator DeCorte.

Mr. President, I second the motion.

It's been moved and seconded. If there are no objections from the members, the Senate will stand in recess, leaving the journal open until 4:30 p.m. and will reconvene at 11:30 a.m.