House Standing Committee on Culture & Arts

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Committee on Culture and the Arts. This is our first Committee hearing of the 2026 legislative session. I'm excited to see so many people in the gal in like the audience here to testify. But also to our amazing Committee Members, Representative Sinead Capella, Chair.

And I have our vice chair, Representative Sam Kong, as well as Committee Members, Representative Garrett and Representative Lee. And thank you to everyone who's here in the room and on Zoom to testify. This is we're gambling in for our 9:30am hearing. We are in conference room 309 and today is Wednesday, February 4th.

We have a number of things on the agenda, so we will just jump in. I will note we have a whole script, but many of you have been here before, so I'm not going to read the full script testimony. Try and limit it to two minutes per testimony.

If you are on Zoom and you're having issues with the Zoom functions, the chat function is only for our technical staff, so only use that for tech issues. And if you are disconnected or we are disconnected here in the hearing room, we will reschedule when there are no issues. So.

And a new notice will be posted and that's in the event of a network failure. And we will reschedule for decision making. Other than that, remain civil, no profanity and let's try to have a good time. Okay. With that, we're going to move into our first Measure, which is HB22118 and up.

First, we have the Comptroller with testimony in support, the Department of Attorney General, Accounting and General Services. Okay. Not here. Not present. We have testimony in person from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Director Ewald.

Should I just stand, or go up there? Perfect. Hi, Chair Capella. Good morning, and Members of the Committee. I'm Karen Ewald, the Executive Director for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and we stand in support of this measure, and happy to answer questions.

Thank you so much, Director. I will note that we also have testimony in support from Keoni O. Kakuhiva, but they are not present. And then we also have testimony with comments from Diva. I see Diva in the audience, but it says that you're not testifying in person.

Aloha. Good morning, Chair Capella, Vice Chair Kong, and Members of the Committee. The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism stands by its comments on House Bill 2117. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you so much. Okay, that's all I have on my testifiers list. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Okay. Seeing none. Members, are there any questions? Questions for SFCA. In your testimony, you note needing an extra, an additional year? Is that not fully spelled out?

You know, I read through the Bill, and I'm so sorry if I missed it, but I didn't see that spelled out because it said effective July 2026, July 1, 2026. I just want to ensure that the effective, you know, the process could take effect July 1, 2026, but we would need like a good full year.

For that to happen. I. That was a consultation with DVET, as well as the Stadium Authority that just recently, well within the last few years, moved over. So I just wanted to ensure that that was put in there somewhere. A transition.

Yeah, there is a, there is a temporary administrative position added into DVET's budget within the Bill to allow for, to assist with that transition, the money transition. But we can certainly try to clarify further. Thank you so much. Okay. Moving on to HB 1764, relating to the Music Accessibility Pilot Program.

I have a number of people here that have submitted testimony, but not a ton of people that are in person. Oh, okay. I have Retail Merchants of Hawaii.

Good morning and Aloha Chair Kapela Vice Chair Kong and Members of the Committee. My name is Dave Erdman. I'm the Interim President and CEO of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. We strongly support HB 1764. I have a couple of comments here.

This Bill expands access to music and arts through our public libraries which are already served as trusted community hubs. Music education and public performances strengthen creativity, connection and opportunity for youth and families. Statewide library based events also bring positive economic activity to nearby retail and small businesses.

For these reasons, Retail Merchants of Hawaii respectively urges the passage of HB 1764. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Mr. Erdman. We also have the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in support and the Hawaii Public Library System in support of Stacey Aldrich.

So hi, good morning chair, Vice chair and Members of the Committee, we stand by our written testimony in support and I wanted to just share an extra picture. This is from one of our programs at Kailua for a jazz program this past summer and there were 200 people who showed up for it.

We've had 55 music programs across the state state this past year and 20 of them were on neighbor islands and we would love to be able to extend that opportunity for the communities to connect to music through our libraries on the neighborhood. So thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Thank you for your testimony. I also have. Oh, Director Ewald, State Foundation for Culture and Arts, in person.

Yes. The State Foundation on Culture and Arts supports this measurement. And in our testimony, we just mentioned that we do this similar program currently with federal funding, and we'd love to see it expand other ways.

Fantastic. Thank you so much, Director. We also have, via Zoom, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra President Amy Iwano.

Thank you for the opportunity. I stand by my testimony.

Thank you so much. Also, via Zoom, we have Michael Williams with the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. Okay, that's all I had on my testifiers list in person. I do see the Hawaii Arts Alliance in the room. Did you want to testify as well?

We're good. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Perfect. Thank you. We have about 40 individuals who testified in support, all in support of this measure, including Hawaii News Now. So is there anyone else who would like to testify in the room? Oh, yes, please.

Aloha Rep Kapela, Vice Chair Kong and Members of the Committee. I'm Randy Wong. I'm President and CEO of Hawaii Youth Symphony, and we stand in full support of this measure. We're very supportive of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and their activities. And our kids really benefit from music in the public libraries.

We also have our own performances in the libraries, and so we're grateful to the public library system in this Committee. Mahalo.

Fantastic. Thank you so much. I will also note that we have testimony and support from the Hawaii Music, the Chamber Music Hawaii, the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Servco Pacific, as well as numerous individuals. Members, are there any questions? Okay, seeing none. We're going to move on to the next measure.

We are going to move on to HB1815. Up first, we have DBEDT in support in person.

Morning again, Chair Kapela, Vice Chair Kong and Members of the Committee. I stand to I'm here for four different bills. But on HB 2118, DBEDT is in strong support of the transfer of the King Cobama celebration and SFCA to from DAGS to DBEDT.

Oh, HB 1815, Rick Manayan, on behalf of DBEDT, again, in support of HB 1815 relating to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Thank you so much. We also have testimony and support from State Foundation of for Culture and the Arts Director Ewald, in person.

We do stand in strong support of this measure in order to administer the performance grants program.

Thank you so much, Director. Okay, Members, that's all I have on my testifiers list. Are there any other individuals looking to testify on this measure? Okay, seeing none. I do have a Quick question for SFCA. Can you, can you talk about why this measure is important?

Yes, definitely. So from Act 131, there was, there is currently the performing arts grants program for the State Foundation to administer.

The way that it had been put into the Bill last session had the need for the state foundation to create new administrative rules, to establish new administrative rules because it wasn't put under Chapter nine or existing for that. It's a very lengthy process. We did start the process. We're in the process.

But after consultation with you, Chair, this could be a much faster, more efficient way because within Chapter nine we have put in place, like in my testimony, all of the necessary means to administer this program. So it's just kind of a simple, simple fix.

If we are able to pass this measure, how quickly do you think that we would be able to administer the performing arts grants that we put money in the budget for last year?

We would start the process right when we get the OEP and everything. And we'd start the actual internal process July 1st. So we could just get going on that right away. You know, then we have to do the 819s and the necessary paperwork through DAGS, but we could start in the summertime for sure. Yeah, we're ready to go.

And then with this specific measure, this was brought to you by the Attorney General's office.

I'm sorry, say it again.

This was brought by the Attorney General's office.

Yeah. Yes. We went to the board to present what we were going to do for the performing arts grants program in the summertime. And then we're flagged by the RW AG saying, actually, you can't do this. You have to establish administrative rules because of the way that the Bill was written. So. But we started that process right away.

But then we realized it's going to take a while, so we're really great. Then the Deputy AG suggested this in consultation with you. So this is the most ideal way to go to administer the funds.

Fantastic. Thank you so much, Director. Okay, Members, we're going to take a quick recess on this agenda.

For our 9:45am agenda.

We are going to take a quick recess on this, finish up our 9:30 and then we're going to roll right into the 9:45. We will then DM on everything continuously. Okay. And recess. Okay. Trying again. Continuing on with our 9:30am agenda. The last measure on this hearing is HB 2117 relating to the arts.

This would establish a maid mapping of the arts data for Education Task Force. And up first we have the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development with comments.

Good morning Chair Capella, Vice Chair Kong and Members of the Committee. My name is Arthur Buto. I'm here for Mary Alice Evans. I'm the manager of the statewide GIS program and we stand by our testimony in support of the intent with St. John.

Thank you for being here. Up next we have DBEDT with comments in person.

Good morning Wednesday Cheer Kong and Members of the Committee divet stands in their comments on HB2117 as we defer to the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development as they are the subject matter experts in mapping.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Okay. We also have testimony in support from the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Randy Wong in person.

From the Hawaii Youth.

Oh, Hawaii Youth Symphony.

Hello, Rep Kapela, Vice Chair Kong and Members of the Committee. As you know, I'm Randy Wong, President and CEO of Hawaii Youth Symphony and we are very much in support of this Bill. First of all, I just want to say a big mahalo for even considering this measure.

As you've read in the written testimony, it stands to benefit many leaders in arts organizations and folks all across the community. Not a single organization, but really a statewide community benefit. That said, the work is a massive undertaking within each art form on their own, plus kind of in combination.

And so like the comments that have been made in some of the written testimony, the idea to limit the scope to perhaps one art form at first, to kind of figure it out would be really helpful and then moving on to the others.

But of course, you know, the comprehensive understanding of arts education is the ultimate goal and so thank you for maybe considering that. Luckily, we are very fortunate to have leaders on the proposed task force that have recently completed with their own organizations, statewide surveys.

So leaders from Hawaii Arts Alliance and the SFCA and so we would learn from and take guidance from them and from their experience.

And then last but not least, so it may be helpful to us to consider adding others to the task force as well, such as a representative from the independent schools, a representative from the public charter schools, other artist practitioners from other neighbor island counties, Kaua' I County, Maui County, Hawaii county and or other subject matter experts as appropriate.

We appreciate your consideration and just a big thanks for helping us to understand equitable access to the arts across the state.

Thank you so much. We also have testimony from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts in support. In person.

Hello Chair and Members of the Committee. We stand in strong support of this measure as well State Foundation Culture Yards.

Thank you so much, Director. We also have testimony from. That's all I have on my in person testifiers list.

I will note that we have testimony and support from the Hawaii Community foundation, the Chamber of Music of Hawaii, Hanohou Music Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa Music Department, the Ohina Labs, as well as the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Simon Leadership Group, Moanalua High School Music Department, and the Hawaii Arts Alliance, as well as the Department of Education.

Wow. In support. That's rare. As well as the Hawaii Data Collective, as well as numerous individuals. I have about. I have four sheets of testimony and support for this specific measure. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in person? Okay. Seeing none Members, are there any questions? Okay. I have a question for OPSD. OSPD. OPSD. Okay.

I was right. Okay. One of the things you mentioned is needing to extend the sunset. Is 2027 not sufficient?

For all the arts. You know, as Randy said, it's definitely very broad area. So I think it's not sufficient to cover that broad spectrum. Again, I think maybe that the first year focus on music, one discipline, and then from that learn what you know. We're gonna have to figure out who to reach out to within music. And then from there.

I don't think there are. There's one entity that sort of has a registry of all arts organizations. So I think that's part of, the, part of the challenge is generating those initial lists. And as years go by, I see this not as a one year or even a two year thing. I think it will continue on.

Hopefully it will continue on. And as long as we can build a solid foundation and a good program for maintenance, which I think is one of the responsibilities of the task force, that it can continue on. And that initial list will grow as we discover more people, more organizations who want to be included.

In your testimony, you also mentioned the need for sufficient funding. There is not a funding request in this Bill. I know that. It was advocacy driven and advocacy and it will be advocacy led. If there was, if I was to note something in the Committee report or potentially add something in, what would a fair.

In your professional opinion, what would we need? What kind of appropriation would this.

That's a fair question. I was hoping you weren't going to ask that.

It's a fair question.

It's not a big ask, I don't think, because, you know, as you said, it's advocacy led. So I know there'll be a lot of support from that community, from that whole community in terms of Volunteer effort, but I think again laying a good foundation. We want to make sure the data is good, the data system is good.

Is a lot of fidelity there. There's that maintenance built in, I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 50,000.

Okay.

I don't think it's a lot because again, I think there's a lot of volunteer effort that's going to be involved. But having in my vision, from my part of it, the GIS part of it is I would want that the technical stuff, the ghost database stuff to be done well.

And so I think hiring somebody to distribute that and it's not a big lift. It's not a huge lift. That's where I think and then long.

Thinking long term, the best place for to store this data and to make sure that it's accessible to the public. Would that be with the SSCA?

I think so. Did the subject matter from the state side. Did the subject matter.

Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony. I appreciate your expertise in this area. Members, are there any other questions? Okay. Seeing none. We are going to recess. We're just going to roll into the next our 9:45 agenda. So I'm not actually going to recess, just going to roll it and.

Actually we are going to take a quick recess.

Okay. Members, are there any questions? Okay. Seeing none. We're going to move on to the next, on to the next measure, HB 2438, relating to the Hawaii Cultural Trust. First we have the Department of Taxation with comments in person. Okay. Not present. We also have the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts in support in person.

Good morning. Karen Ewald, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. We stand in support this measure as well. Looking forward to looking into it.

Thank you so much, Director. Okay. We also have the Tax Foundation of Hawaii via Zoom. Tom Yamachika.

Aloha. Colleen Teramae, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, on behalf of our President Tom Yamachika, who's in another hearing. Tax Foundation of Hawaii stands on its written testimony and comments. Mahalo.

Thank you so much. Also on this measure we have DBEDT, Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, with comments. Okay. Okay. Standing on our written testimony. And I have a handful of individuals, one in opposition and one in support. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Clinton Piper, Department of Taxation. I apologize for not being present. I was testifying at the same time in another committee. We'll be standing on our comments. We'll be available for questions.

Thank you very much. Okay. Members, are there... Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? On person, in person or in Zoom? Members, are there any questions? No. Okay.

Okay. Seeing none, we're going to move on. Okay. Finally, we have HB 2532, relating to the Hawaiian flag. I have no one on my list to testify in person, but there are a number of individuals in support. Palehua Townhouse Association, as well as a handful of other... About seven individuals, all in support. Is there anyone who would like to testify on this measure? Oh, yes, please. Did you submit your testimony?

I did not, which is why I am here. I do apologize. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify. I am Dr. Adam Jansen. During the day, I serve as mild mannered State Archivist. In the evening, I am adjunct faculty at San Jose State, teaching graduate classes in archives.

So I have a rather unique perspective on the importance of history. And it's worth noting that the Hae Hawaii, the Hawaiian flag, has since 1816 stood as a symbol of the land, its people, and its government. No other flag in the history of the world has stayed unaltered through five different forms of government.

Kingdom, provisional, republic, territory, state have all used that flag as a symbol of the people. It cannot be overstated how important it is to allow that flag to stand as a symbol. It is used for solidarity, for protest, for inclusion, for identity. Those rights should never be impinged. It should not be in question.

So I thank you for your support of this bill to make sure that that flag will continue to fly as needed, where needed by the people. And thank you for this opportunity, and I welcome any questions you may have.

Thank you so much. Will you be submitting your testimony for the record?

We will be sending it through the channels.

Okay. As the archive or as an individual?

As... That will be determined. Official testimony comes through the comptrollers. So thank you.

Thank you very much, Dr. Jansen. Okay. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on that particular measure? Okay, seeing none. We're going to move on to questions. Any questions? Okay, seeing none. We're going to move on to our final measure on this agenda, HB 2566, relating to special license plates.

We have one testifier, the Hawaii Wing Headquarters Civil Air Patrol in support. Okay. Not present. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure either in person or via Zoom? Okay, seeing none. We are going to take a quick recess.

Okay. Reconvening for our 9:30am agenda, we are going to be doing...

We're going to roll through from our 9:30 into our 9:45 DMing on both. Up first, we have HB 2118, relating to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. We are going to be defecting the date to 7-1-3000.

And just as a note for anyone watching via zoom or here in the, in the hearing room, that is just a technical amendment that we make for all measures coming moving through the House. We are also going to be adding technical amendments needed for clarity, consistency, and style.

I want to note in the Committee report to clarify if we need an additional year, but I do believe that the Bill should state that there is a is a year that the foundation will have to be able to transition over into DBEDT. Members, are there any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay, seeing none.

Vice Chair for the vote.

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Members, moving on to HB 1764 relating to the Music Accessibility Pilot program. Chair's recommendation is to pass this with amendments. We're going to be defecting the date and I don't think there are any other technical amendments that are needed. So we're going to be passing this measure forward. Members, are there any questions, comments or concerns?

Seeing actually, I'm sorry, one technical amendment. We are going to be blanking out the appropriation and then from there, Vice Chair for the vote.

Okay. Voting on HB 1764 passed with amendments. All Members present any noes, any with reservations? Chair, recommendation is adopted.

Thank you so much. Moving on to HB 1815, relating to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. For this measure. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. We are going to be defecting the date and we're also going to be including any other technical amendments needed for clarity, consistency, and style. Members, are there any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay, seeing none. Vice chair for the vote.

[Roll Call]

Thank you so much. Okay, moving on to the final measure for this 9:30 agenda, HB 1—HB 2117—relating to arts data mapping. We are going to be defecting the date to—we're going to be defecting the date. We are also going to be adding in into Section Two under the representatives, we're going to be adding a representative of independent schools and charter schools as well as a representative of neighbor island arts education programs.

And then, we are also going to clarify that we are going to be doing an interim report that will be due in 2027, focusing solely around music and dance.

We will do a final report due in 2029 on arts or how on arts in general and arts education programming. I would also like to note in the Committee Report any additional funding that might be necessary to support the mission of this task force. Okay.

We will also add in any technical amendments needed for clarity, consistency, and style. And Members, are there any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay, seeing none. Vice chair for the vote.

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Members. We are going to roll into our 9:45 agenda for decision making. We're going to be starting with HB 2436 relating to arts integration in public schools. For this for this measure, the chair's recommendation is just to defect the date.

We're also going to be adding any technical amendments that are needed for clarity, consistency and style. Members, are there any questions, comments or concerns? Okay, seeing none. Vice chair for the vote

Voting on HB 2436 to pass this amendments. Any noes, any reservations?Chair, recommendation is adopted.

Thank you so much, Members. Okay, moving on to HB 2438 relating to the Hawaii Cultural Trust. This establishes a cultural a Hawaii Cultural Trust within. I'm going to preface to explain the Cultural Trust a little bit more because I think that this is fairly complicated.

And the way that the Bill is currently drafted, which we will be making quite a bit of amendments to, doesn't necessarily clarify the intent. The Cultural Trust will be established within the state treasury in order to qualify for the Cultural Trust.

It is a tax credit that will be given to any any individual who makes a donation to a nonprofit that is a culturally focused organization or a qualified organization. There is a list of those organizations that will be maintained by SFCA with the support of The Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

An individual must make a donation to both the cultural trust and to an organization on the list of cultural nonprofits. They will then get a tax credit for any donation that is made up to a cap of the text of the cultural trust as well as. Let me back up.

They will then make a donate whatever donation they make to the nonprofit. They have to make an equal donation to the cultural trust. They will then get a tax credit for whatever they make to that cultural trust as long as it is the same as what is being given by what they have donated to the organization.

The intent is not to take away funding from organizations that people are donating to. The intent is to add an additional benefit to anyone who donates to a cultural nonprofit or an arts organization in our state. They will get a tax credit through the cultural trust if they make a donation that's matching to the cultural trust.

So I want to clarify. I want to clarify the intent. The intent is to support nonprofits, increase donations to those organizations, and also give additional donations from the cultural trust to those same organizations. So we are going to be adding a couple of amendments now that I've clarified the intent. The First Amendment.

We're going to clarify the intent of the Bill being that we do not want to take donations and funding away from any nonprofit organizations or community orgs so that we.

So that we have created a donation system where if the donor makes a donation to a qualifying cultural organization to the trust, they get the tax credit that is equal to the lesser amount of their donation or the cap that is set by this Bill.

These donations need to be made in tandem, both to the qualifying cultural organization and to the cultural trust in order to qualify for the tax credit. We are also going to amend this Bill to clarify the language on what an eligible contribution is. We're going to be removing subsection B on page four.

This will assist with the clarification. And then finally, we're going to add that SFCA and OHA will both need to house the list of eligible nonprofits on their websites and it will be updated annually. We're going to clarify the membership of the advisory Committee by adding the number of Members as well as clarifying the voting Members.

Members, are there any questions, comments or concerns?

I'm sorry, can you repeat that, please?

I repeated it three times in three different. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thanks for bearing with me. I know that this is a relatively new idea of how we fund arts and cultural orgs. For too long, I think we have relied just on the 1%, which is incredibly restrictive because we can only use.

It's made up of bond funds. So the intent of this Committee is really to find new and additional ways to support arts and culture here in our state. This is one of the ways that we're trying to do that. Okay, we are Members. Are there any questions, comments or concerns? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote.

Voting on HB 2438 to pass those amendments. Are there any noes, reservations? No. Chair, it's adopted.

Thank you so much. And Members... Oh, I was gonna say we're adjourned. There are more bills. Okay, moving on to HB 2532, relating to the Hawaiian flag. We're going to be defecting the date, and that's it. Are there any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay. Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote.

Okay. Voting on HB 2532 to pass with amendments. Any noes, any reservations? Chair, recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, Members. Moving on to our final measure, HB2566 relating to special number license plates. We are going to be just defecting the date for this measure. Yes. Okay. We're just going to be defecting the date for this measure. Are there any questions, comments, or concerns?

Ready? Okay.

Vice Chair for the vote.

Okay. Voting on HB2566 to pass with amendments. Any noes? Any reservations? Seeing none. Recommendation is adopted.

Perfect. Thank you, Members. We're adjourned.