House Standing Committee on Culture & Arts

Hello everyone good morning we are dabbling in for the committee on culture and the arts.

We are in Conference Room 309 today is Friday February 13 the day before Valentine's Day happy early Valentine's everyone and it is we're just past 09:15 it's 09:18 right now we have two things that we're hearing on the agenda first up is HB 2045 relating to state holidays designates La Ho'iho'i Ea, sovereignty restoration day, as a state holiday in place of statehood day, We have a handful of folks on the agenda to testify. First, we have the office of collective bargaining with comments not present.

We also have the Hawaii civil rights commission in support, and the city and county of Honolulu with comments, and finally we have in person Imiloa Borland, office of Hawaiian affairs in support not present, we also have testimony in support from Na Waia Ho'ola Nui Foundation, not present. We also have about 36 individuals all in support, a couple of comments, but that's all I have on my testifiers list that had submitted testimony.

Is there anyone else who would like to testify? If you would like to testify, feel free to come up to the podium.

You go first. You go first.

Thanks for breaking the ice.

I have one minute. We can be flexible. Okay. Aloha. My name is Kukua Leaheana.

I am from Kaukumakaha on Mokokeape, and I'm here today in support of HB 2045, which is about replacing statehood day with La Ho'iho'i Ea. Statehood day asks the people of Hawai'i to celebrate a political event that sought to erase us and continues to violate our lands and people. And for many of us, Kanaka Maoli, it feels like a slap in the face.

It forces our people to commemorate the actions of The US that followed an illegal overthrow and an unlawful annexation and decades of occupation that the Kanaka Maoli still face. La Ho'iho'i Ea commemorates the restoration of the Hawaiian governance in 1843 when sovereignty was returned to King Kauai Keoli after being wrongfully taken by another foreign minister.

This restoration matters, I believe, because it is proof that Hawaiian sovereignty was interrupted and then rightfully restored. These facts are not up for debate and as a descendant of Kupuna that signed the petition, I feel like this is important to acknowledge. At one point in this, I thought that it might have been contradictory for Kanaka Maoli to seek recognition through the state while asserting that Hawaii remains illegally occupied, but it's not about validating the state's authority.

And I hope every Kanaka Maoli will take up every single space no matter where and when to provide true history. Replacing statehood deal with La Ho'iho'i Ea can be a statement about what this government is willing to confront, and it can be a step toward aligning public recognition with historical truth.

And I urge you guys to please pass HB 2045 and replace statehood deal with La Ho'iho'i Ea.

Or share their thoughts? For those of you who are watching via zoom we have numerous students that are joining us here at the state capitol, some of them most of them actually for the very first time and many of them from Hawaii Island, so be patient with us as we allow them to get over any nerves and overcome any fears they may have as they join us in submitting testimony. You can share your thoughts. If there are any Kumu who would like to share?

Resident. I teach Ola Hawai'i at IKE Hawai'i at Volcano School of Arts and Sciences. And, mahalo for your time and for allowing us to be here. I wanted to, share that I'm in support for HB 2045 in changing acknowledging La Ho'iho'i Ea as a super significant day in Hawaiian history. And that's all that I have for today. Mahalo.

Mahalo for your testimony. Okay, any others who would like to testify? Or share their thoughts? Okay. I know that there are a handful of other students who had wanted to testify on this measure who are not present yet.

We will return to this measure, we may have to take a quick recess, but we will try to return to the measure to allow students to testify. We're going to move on to HB 1703 HD 1 relating to land use authorizes rodeos and rodeo activities on various lands that are zoned for agriculture or pastoral uses. Up first we have Department of Land and Natural Resources with comments in person.

On behalf of Land Vision. We'll rest on our testimony but are available for any questions.

Thank you so much. Okay. Next we have, Agribusiness Development Corporation.

In supporting this Chair and members of the committee, and happy Valentine's Day. My name is Wendy Gady. I'm the executive director for the Agribusiness Development Corporation and we stand in support of this measure. First and foremost, it is cultural, it is social, it involves food, it exposes kids to a wide variety of ag careers, and it's also an economic boost to the community. We're here for any questions or comments. Thanks.

Thank you so much. And then we also have testimony in support in person, from Ironworkers Stabilization Fund.

Good morning, Chair Cappello and my prime representatives Lee, Ola, and Garrett. Cody Sula with Ironworkers Stabilization Fund. We submitted a written testimony which we stand on. We just want to highlight a couple of things. You know, we're in full support of this and we're in support of any measures that help create, more economic activity.

We believe that this is going to help, economic growth, support some of our farms and businesses that we've all been trying to do. It's all gonna it also can create more construction jobs, you know, if they do decide to build more venues or larger venues, Ironworkers will be out there making the work. And then also, like our previous testifier mentioned, we believe that it's a new career pathway for people into agriculture.

But you know, with the rising crime and all this other stuff happening in our islands, we believe that this would be a good thing. Rodeos, you know, getting into the getting into this type of work would create programs and pathways for mentorship you know, to allow kids and families to be together and, do something constructive, get them off the street, keep us off the street.

So I'm representing school support. Thank you, guys.

Thank you so much.

Happy early Valentine's Day.

Thank you so much for your testimony. I will also mention that we have testimony, in comments from the Hawaii Food and Policy, and then that's all I have on my testifiers list. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Any students who love rodeo? Okay, seeing none members.

Are there any questions? I have a quick question for, ABC. Thank you so much for being your director, can you share a little bit more about how this fits into I think the wider, scope for

ADC? Thank you very much Chair for the question. I'm Wendy Gady, ED for ADC and fundamentally 1 of the things that's in our statute is ADC was created for the economic, environmental, and social benefit of the people of Hawaii. And first and foremost, Rodeos are a social event. They are a lot of fun, they are a celebration of a lot of work in horsemanship, training, livestock, maintenance, and so that is definitely core to our mission.

It's also a huge economic boost.

I think you heard the construction folks over here, but in addition to that it really shows our craftsmanship because people come and they sell cowboy hats, they sell cowboy boots, they sell all kinds of Cowboy Paraphernalia, and it's also a chance for the local community because when people come in what we've seen, they stop at the local stores, they get gas, they go to the grocery store, they may stop before or after the event for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so it is a huge injection to the community.

It does, it does, thank you.

Does that answer your question?

Members any further questions? Okay seeing then we're gonna take a quick recess to allow for some of the other students to arrive. Hopefully we can get a little bit more testimony on that first measure. I know many students are coming just for the opportunity to testify So we're gonna do a quick recess and we'll reconvene at we'll reconvene at 10AM. And we will also yeah.

We'll reconvene at 10AM. Thank you so much.