House Floor

Will the house come to order? Mister Clerk, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Madam speaker, 49 members are present. Two are not present.

Moving on to item number two, reading of the journal. Representative Morikawa.

Madam speaker, may this matter be deferred.

So ordered. Item number three, messages from the governor. Mister Clerk, are there any messages from the governor?

Madam speaker, there are none.

Moving on to item number four, Senate communications. Mr. Clerk, are there any Senate communications?

Madam Speaker, there are none.

Members, are there any introductions? Representative Holt.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the gallery today, we have joining us my beautiful wife, Nadia Holt. If you may stand to please be recognized. And also today, madam speaker, I have my staff in the gallery, Khale Dinwiddi Kala, Madison Cahill, and Kennedy Salas. Thank you guys so much for everything.

Appreciate you guys, and welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Marten.

Thank you, speaker. Today I have the honor of introducing in the gallery, Makilei Ishihara. You could be rise, please rise, who not only served District 51 in the past as my office manager, but assisted this body in their efforts to help with the wildfire survivors in Lahaina. Now she's here as part of Hawaiian Day, representing OHA and the education initiatives. And, hopefully, everybody will get a chance to go see the exhibits and chit chat with her.

Aloha.

Aloha. Representative La Chica.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. On I'm very honored to be welcoming the second group of our students from Hawaii Technology Academy today. So today yesterday, we had middle schoolers. Today, we have high school students joining us. And as you know, they're here to learn more about how legislation works and also meet with different representatives and observe, the activities in the building.

So when I call your names, please stand. I'll be welcoming students from Oahu. We have Blake, we have please stand if you're here. Aden, Adam, Grayson, Peyton, Embry, Chloe, Byron, Nave, Allison, Cameron, Kyoko, Leila, Valerie Jane, Seiden, Kian, Novia, and Cheyenne. Today.

And then I will, permission to insert the names into the journal.

So ordered.

They are accompanied by my, Keiki Caucus intern, Miss Ina William. Please rise. She's serving as my Keiki caucus intern this year. She is a tenth grader at Mililani High School, and one day she would like to be a lawyer. So welcome all to your house of representatives.

Representative Ilagan.

Thank you, madam speaker. In the gallery members, we have some dragon slayers. And please rise as I call your name. Charlie is our priest who heals us during our battles. Charlie, please rise.

And then we have Chelsea who's our mage, who fights along us in this battle. And then we have Nadia, who's our support mage as well, because she does magic on our social media. And we have JB, who's our tank, who's our office manager, really takes the brunt of all the attacks for us. And we have Carrie, who's our elf, our archer, and here to strike the foes that lay in front of us.

Madam speaker, these are our dragon slayers in Pune, and I really wanna share them with you.

Welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Grandinetti.

Thank you, madam speaker. I have two introductions. I first wanted to recognize my office manager, Erin Enriquez. She's not in the gallery today.

She is at her surprise birthday party that I ruined at 11:45, fifteen minutes before it was about to start. So I'm so sorry, Erin, but happy birthday if you could join me in wishing Erin a happy birthday.

And then I also wanted to recognize a very good friend of mine in the gallery, Lily Trotter. If you could please stand. Hi, Lily. Lily is nine years old. Stay standing.

Lily is nine years old, and she is a breakthrough t one d youth advocate. She traveled all the way to Washington DC to advocate for young people like herself who live with type one diabetes. She's also a surfer and a hammer at soccer, and she beats me at left, right, center every single New Year's Eve, but not this year, Lily. And, I'd also like to recognize her mom, my good friend and Kumu at HTA Ashley Trotter. Welcome to your House of Representatives.

Representative Kapela.

Thank you so much, madam speaker. Today is Hawaiian day as a part of this incredible day. We have wonderful students who are normally visiting us from across the state, But today, we have students just from Hawaii Island. So it makes my heart very happy to welcome them to the legislature. Students from Waimea Middle, we have Riley and Jewel, along with their principal, Janice English.

We have, Daily and Leahi, along with their principal, Kaleemakinney, and their chaperone, Kumuti Ele, from Volcano School of the Arts and Sciences. We also have Punua, Alakai, Hehu, and Kaleila. Oh. And Luisa Lee. They're Kumu from Kaumeka Kaeo.

And then, Kaleila, you get a shout out twice because I called you with a different school. So Kaleila, Felix, Nele, Kahuvai, Robert, and Jeremiah, along with their their Kumu, Shanna from Kaukala. I'm sorry. I don't know why I can't read. And then we also have students I'm not sure if they're I'm not sure if they're names because they were a last minute addition, but Kanuoka Aina, students and Kumu also joined us.

So I'm not sure if you're up there. And then finally, I have my office manager helping us hold it down, and get through the day, Ruby Jordan. Welcome to your House of Representatives, all of you. Thank you for being here. The for many of them, this is their first time being in the building and they testified on a measure that passed out of your committee on culture and the arts today.

So such a privilege to welcome you to your House of Representatives. And in the spirit of dragon slayers, some of us love 4th Wing, so we also have many dragon riders in the building.

Representative Reyes Oda.

Thank you, speaker. I do not have dragon slayers to introduce, but I do have sabers today. So today, I have four three members of the James Campbell High School robotics team who has visited us in this building because today's school school is off, but also because they gave testimony in person in the ECD committee. So if I if you can stand to be recognized, Tyrone Ho, Joshua Tom, and Lance Rivero.

But I also want to recognize that lady holding the camera phone, who's the mom that's supporting them and bringing them here. You know, we need drivers, and that's the mom, Tina Liu Tom. So if you can stand to be recognized, welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Templo.

Thank you, speaker. It is my honor to humbly recognize from the office of Hawaiian affairs, our Oahu Trustee Kalei Akaka. Please stand to be recognized, and welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Evslin.

Thank you, madam speaker. It is my incredible honor to introduce students from Kauai, from the Hawaii Technology Academy who are here today. They are here from the Shanti Alliance Club and the, Miss Denton's participation in democracy class. Students, you're standing behind me so I don't think I can see you, but if you could please stand when I say your name.

We have Nicholas Evanoff, Tallulah Comstock, Paisley Balmoris, Lola Bresnahan, Jaren Fox, Ellen Conway, Coda Coda Smouch, Maya Smith, Corey Kelikoma, Madeline Johnson, Kayson Murayama, Jade Bowen, and accompanied by teachers, Ariane Johnson, and my good friend Shauna C Denton.

And, accompanied also by my, office manager who is also Dragon Slayer, Makalie Olivera. Welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Reyes Oda.

Thank you, speaker. If I can just introduce one more. I wanna introduce Mister Colin Kennedy who's accompanying his students from Hawaii Technology Academy. Colin was a teacher to my son who attended HTAs many, many years ago. I'm aging us.

Welcome to your house of representatives.

Representative Kahaloa.

Thank you, madam speaker. I have two brief introductions. As we know, today is Hawaiian day at the capital, and as part of presenting the vendor booths today, office of Hawaiian affairs was part of that presentation. So not only do we wanna recognize trustee Akaka who is here today, but also to all of the office of Hawaiian affairs staff.

Not all of them are here in the gallery, but if you are, can you please stand and be recognized? And mahalo for all your work. Makilei, you too. Please stand and be recognized. Trustee, thank you for being here and thank you to the OHA team.

Some of them, again, are upstairs still working, but thank you and welcome to your house of representatives. And then in the spirit of Valentine's Day, accompanying them is my spouse, Elia Johnson. Please stand and welcome to your house of representatives.

Let's move on to the order of the day item number five reports of standing committees representative Kahalawa.

Madam speaker, I move to adopt standing committee reports numbers 264 dash 26 through two seventy one dash twenty six as listed on pages one through three and that the accompanying house bills may as may be amended pass second reading and be referred to their designated committees.

Representative Morikawa.

Madam speaker, I second the motion.

Any discussion on these items beginning with HSCR number 264-26. Representative Garcia.

Thank you, madam speaker. No vote.

So ordered. Representative Muraoka.

No vote.

So ordered. Representative Alcos.

No vote.

So ordered. Representative Gedeon.

Reservations.

So ordered. Moving on to standing committee report number 265-26. 266-26. 267-26. 268-26.

Representative Garcia.

No vote.

So ordered. Representative Alcos.

No vote.

So ordered. Representative Muraoka.

No vote.

So ordered. Moving on to. Oh, representative Shimizu.

Thank you. Reservations, please.

So ordered. Moving on to 269. Did I do 268-26? 269-26 to representative Pierick.

Thank you for 268.

Please proceed.

No vote.

So ordered 269-26, 270-26, 271-26. Representative Garcia.

No vote.

So ordered. Representative Alcos.

Same request.

So ordered. Representative Muraoka.

With reservations, please.

So ordered. Representative Matsumoto.

Reservations.

So ordered. Representative Gedeon.

Reservations.

So ordered. Representative Pierick.

In opposition.

So ordered. Please proceed.

Thank you. This measure is aiming to reduce penalties for crimes in Oahu. We want to reduce crime in Oahu, and one of the ways to do that is to increase punishments to deter crime. Voting no.

Okay. Members, we will be taking a voice vote. All those in favor, say aye. All those opposed say no. The motion is carried.

Item number six, introduction of resolutions. Mister Clerk, are there any resolutions for action?

Madam speaker, there are no resolutions for action. May all others be referred to print?

So ordered. Item number seven, announcements. Members, are there any announcements? Representative Kila.

Mahalo madam speaker and thank you for everybody and staff for supporting Hawaiian Day here at the capitol. From 2PM, I mean till 2PM, the boots will be available upstairs. But please, everybody in the building, join us downstairs in the rotunda with your lunch and your chair from one to two for Melia at the capital provided by Hawaiian council.

Representative Holt.

Thank you, madam speaker. You know, for the past couple weeks, knowing this day was gonna come, didn't really feel real till last night.

So for those of you who don't know, I'm resigning today. Today's gonna be my last day in the house. I couldn't give down a speech. I just have a list of names of people that I need to thank. First of all, I need to thank my wife, Nadia, thank you for everything allowing me to do this work and sacrifice all my time.

You know, I started working at the capitol in 2009. I started working as session staff. You know, definitely never thought that it'd be down here on the floor. I remember once at the end of the first session, I would joke with one of the other staff members that, oh, I'm gonna be on the Senate or you're gonna be in the house, but, you know, just joking, like, not serious.

You know, my family has political history, but when I was growing up, I didn't ever think this was gonna happen, and it didn't wasn't very nice.

But, you know, I I need to thank Senator Donna Kim. You know, she gave me my first opportunity here at the Capitol, and she's a ways and means chair. She's also the one to encourage me to run for office. One day she called me up and called me in her office and told me, hey, what are you doing with your life? How old are you?

What are you gonna do? Just be staff forever? And I was like, oh, you know. But, you know, I appreciate that. And that's why nowadays, whenever I can catch some young kids, I always try to give them some encouragement and try to get good people to do this work that we do because it's not easy.

But, we consciously have to be out there to find people to do this work because, like, you guys all know, it's thankless, it's rough, social media is terrible, but it's very important work. I wanna thank Ross Lukenjo, my first boss. Bill's, you know, my Bill's researcher was my first job in Ways and Means. And you know, Senator Kim, I learned so much from her. The late nights, the doing your homework and everything, like, I wouldn't be able to do this without her.

I was also very fortunate to work for Senator Gilbert Kahele. Such a great man. The short time I got to work for him is I learned so much about being a good person, you know. I always remember the one time somebody called him up and their toilet was broken and, you know, it's not our job to fix somebody's toilet. But he got on the phone and he called up his friend and he told his friend, hey, I give you $50.

Go down over there and fix the guy's toilet. And, you know, that's the kind of reach that we have. That's the kind of things that we can do, and that's the kind of people we need to, you know, improve our communities. Working with him and with Linda Mendo in that office really allowed me to grow some freedom and some getting to know more of the people here in the capitol. It really, you know, helped me out moving forward.

And, you know, and then I got to be the assistant sergeant at arms in the Senate for a few years, and my crew were there with Ben and Linda, Debbie and Doug and Paul, Alec. Sorry, guys. I hate talking much. The last time I got the mic, so you're just gonna have to deal with me for now. And you know working in the sergeant at arms and being able to deal with all the different senators, many who are still in office today.

You know, thank you guys for all the lessons that I've learned. I always think about the time when we implemented the the new finger thing and just having to deal with all the different personalities about, I don't like to do this and what about my keys and this and that. And, you know, it definitely prepared me to be in the legislature and have to go back and deal with the senators afterwards.

You know, working in the Senate president's office with Terrence and Nancy, you know, the long nights that we put put in an office. But madam speaker, I couldn't do none of this without Roth Puahala.

Roth was my first office manager, but he's been a friend of mine for a long time. And, you know, when we first got elected, you know, it was me and you and Sean and Sean and Cedric and shortly after that, but if not for Roth guiding us and showing us the path that we needed to stay on, we wouldn't be here without you, Roth. I really couldn't I mean, I could go on for days about this guy. He officiated my marriage.

He's just an all around good guy.

Whenever you need something, you know, that guy is a great guy to know.

And then, you know, getting elected and showing up the day after the election. Everybody always ask me like, oh you must have known Sean and Cedric before you got elected. Nope. You know, show up the day after the election, Sean didn't even know he had work. You know, Cedric was late as usual. Some things don't change, you know.

It's, you know, things aren't coming to a close, we're all just moving on to the next chapter in our lives. But you know, we've faced so many challenges together. We've been through so many things. Just love you guys, man. I got nothing else more today.

Madam speaker, maybe I got some words for the journal, but I just. No, I do got something else. I forgot. To my Hawaiian caucus colleagues, you know, when I started in this my first year, one of the senators asked me about, what, you know, I want my I can't even think of the word.

Anyway, you know, the best thing that we've accomplished as I've been here is obviously, you know, the money that we've raised for the HHL, this $600 million settling the Kolyma case, you know, increasing the funds to OHA and just being on the on the path to increasing these funds.

But, you know, it's been a long time. The 600 million was five years ago. So you guys got some work to do. We need more funds appropriated to the department. I look forward to working with you folks to ensure a dedicated, source of revenue for the department and to continue to carry on this work, you know.

It's, back before you guys were here, it was a, you know, tough sledding for Hawaiians and getting things going. So the fact that we're here on Hawaiian day, I appreciate you guys so much and I really look forward to all the work that you guys are gonna carry forward after this. But things are in good hands. I trust all you folks. Thank you all, sir.

Thank you all very much. And again, all you guys, Brian, Rupert, everybody, man. Thank you guys all so much. Thank you. Mahalo.

Recess.

Calling this meeting back to order. Representative Quinlan.

Thank you madam speaker. My apologies to my colleagues. We did have a certificate made up to honor Daniel's service and what he's brought not to this not just to this building, but my life, broader native Hawaiian community, the people of Kalihi and Chinatown. And I wanna say if there's been one really consistent thing about Daniel's service besides scolding me all the time. It's been his advocacy for native Hawaiians.

It's been his advocacy for DHHL and OHA and it wasn't always easy and at times it felt like he was the only voice in the building that was truly committed to the cause and when I say it wasn't easy, he was willing to sacrifice of himself. He was willing to take hits for what he knew was right. And, that's a lesson that I hope all of us can take with us. So, Daniel, it has been the honor of my life to serve with you.

I love you and now I'm gonna give you a certificate.

This meeting is now adjourned. Oh, wait. Excuse me. Representative Morikawa for the motion to adjourn.

Point of order, madam speaker.

Madam speaker, I move that this house stand adjourned until 12:00 noon, Tuesday.

Representative Garcia.

Madam speaker, I second the motion.

All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say no. The motion is carried. The house stands adjourned until twelve noon, Tuesday.