Senate Standing Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs

Good afternoon. It is now 03:00PM, and we have a joint committee meeting between the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs.

This meeting is being streamed live on YouTube In the unlikely event that we have to end this hearing due to technical difficulties, the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business at 03:00PM, February 18 at 03:00 in Conference Room 016, and a public notice will be posted on the legislator's website.

Each testifier will be given one minute to testify today. If you've already submitted written testimony, we encourage you to limit your time to highlighting important facts or standing on your testimony.

First up between the joint committees is relating to the State Building Code Council And for State Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, we have Mary Alice Evans for her designee. Welcome.

Aloha chairs. Diana Sutton is with the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. OPSD stands on its written testimony and support with amendments, and we are available for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have let's see. Hawaii Food Industry Association on Zoom. Lauren Zirbel?

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay. Next, we have testifying for Chamber of Commerce Hawaii in person, a representative from the chamber.

Yes. Good afternoon, Chair Fukunaga, Vice chair Wakai. Chamber of Commerce stand in its testimony in support.

Thank you very much. We also had additional testimonies in support, six total, one with comments. Is there anyone else who would like to testify on Senate Bill 3048?

If not, maybe questions? None?

Okay. I do have let's see. One follow-up for Office of State Planning. I believe there was a request for an appropriation to fund the acquisition and maintenance of software licensing or to amend the language. And is that the reference you're making as far as amendments?

Yes.

Because the bill does require the state building co-council to establish a public dashboard to post all of that permitting data. But if they don't have any financing in order to acquire the software to do that, they're not gonna be able to effectuate the appropriate or effectuate the measure. But they could start by just creating a plan for how they would do that and look at some different companies that they'd be interested in using their software.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Okay. Turning next to Senate Bill 3083 relating to protective orders.

On this one, we have US Department of Defense, State Liaison Office, KellI May Douglas on Zoom. Welcome.

Thank you. Good afternoon, chairs, co chairs, vice chairs, and members of the committee. My name is Kelli May Douglas with the US Defense State Liaison Office, and I will stand on our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, we have Brigadier General Walter Ross for Hawaii National Guard, State Department of Defense for his designee. Next testifying for Military and Community Relations Office at DBEDT, John Green.

Good afternoon, chairs, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. John Green, the Deputy Director for Military and Community Relations Office. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Our office is seeing a need for better communication between the judiciary, police forces, and the military when it comes to protective order notification, Ensuring that military security forces are notified within 24 hours allows commands to take appropriate action, reinforce compliance, and provide additional oversight where necessary.

Early awareness supports accountability, helps prevent escalation, and strengthens coordination among agencies responsible for safety and enforcement. Military affiliated individuals often face handling both civilian and military systems when a protect protective order is issued.

This measure will create a more efficient and cohesive system where individuals will be better protected. Thank you, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you so much. Next, we have Judiciary, Jessi Hall, or a Judiciary representative.

Afternoon, chairs, members of the committee. My name is Jessi Hall. I'm a family court judge. Although our testimony looks like we are in opposition, we are not in opposition to the intent of the bill. Until September 2025.

We did have a system that was in place where we were providing the military with orders for protection against some their the respondents that we knew to be their members. Since September 2025, we've lost contact. We are asking that the bill be deferred to give us the opportunity to reconnect with the military so that a better system can be put back in place.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have, Angelina Mercado testifying for Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Let's see.

Anyone else, here to testify on Senate Bill 3083? Please come forward.

How you doing? My name is Titus Graham. I'm a local resident here, retired United States Marine Corps. This Senate bill is very pertinent that we get make sure any misconduct that's handled out of town for a military member is reported immediately to it says security forces to do the base local base commanders so that we can, basically have that military member, under the uniform code of military justice that's suggested to be used to make sure we have integrity and justice within us in the military.

Because if we don't, we'll have the integrity of the uniform code of Marine Corps military justice and also the integrity of the military that we are holding to a higher standard in society, will be strong.

So reporting that, it'll basically deviate for military members, get misconduct out of town, and also reign it with our ranks, and basically blanket on their on the military, which they could badly get away with or look as higher favorable. So this would say the bill will help make sure that everybody get dealt with immediately.

Okay. Thank you very much for your testimony.

Members, any questions for the prior testifiers?

Okay. If not, Chair has one question for maybe a Judiciary representative.

I guess either a representative of State National authority. Macro, if anyone else would like to come forward. You know, it seems as though there was a working process that had been in place in the past. And with a lot of the testimony from the Judiciary, the, I guess, the scale of what would be required under this bill seems to be really overwhelming.

So I guess questions to both of you would be to what extent has, the Department of Defense, macro, and others engaged with the Judiciary since the time when, I guess, the prior arrangement kind of disappeared?

We kind of took our guidance from from a national level looking at existing laws here in the state with regards to temporary restraining orders or protective orders for military individuals to see if there was any existing statute which governed that, and we didn't see any so we wanted to make sure that a bill was put in place that as Judge mentioned there's a there's a process in place currently but we're not familiar with any kind of state mandate or state law that requires it.

So our concern is that if there's a procedure that ends, there is no mandate that it continue.

And to be upfront, they did have the house version of this bill held this morning, the hearing, and we did connect at that time, and we will be communicating to see what we can do to create a policy that could, amend the language and make it a formal policy versus just our internal policy that we were working with.

Okay. Thank you both very much.

Okay. That brings us to the end of this agenda. We will recess and take a short break.

Thank you very much. We're gonna reconvene and recommend action on Senate Bill 3048 and Senate Bill 3083. For the first bill relating to the State Building Code, 2-4 chairs have conferred and recommend that we adopt the OSP amendments to recommend the specific action to be taken with without necessarily adding a new appropriation. So the goal is to pass with amendments to add the effective date.

The I guess the committee on PSM does not have quorum. So at this point, we will defer until we receive quorum later in today's hearing.

For members of EIG, we gladly accept those amendments. Any discussion?

If not, Senator Chang, I vote yes.

Chair's recommendation for Senate Bill 3048 is to pass with amendments. Chair votes yes. Vice chair votes aye. Senator DeCoite is excused.

Senator Richards?

Aye.

Senator Fevella is excused.

The recommendation is adopted. Thank you.

Okay. For Senate Bill 3083 relating to protective orders, we certainly acknowledge, you know, some of the the difficulties that have arisen since the previous arrangement halted. However, we do wanna encourage both the military leadership as well as judiciary to come up with a solution to this need for our protective orders.

So chairs are recommending that we pass this measure with amendments, inserting a defective effective date for the measure and noting many of the concerns that were raised by the Judiciary in our committee report.

Any discussion, questions?

If not, we'll defer to EIG.

PSM will vote at a later time. For members of EIG, we are happy to take those amendments of the defective date. Any discussion? If not, Senator Chang, I vote yes.

Chair's recommendation for Senate Bill 3083 is to pass with amendments. Noting the absences of excusals of Senators, DeCoite and Fevella, the members present, are there any objections or reservations?

Hearing none, the recommendation is adopted.

Thank you.

Thank you. This concludes our joint hearing.

Convening this afternoon's, Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs agenda. We have two measures.

The first one on this agenda is Senate Bill 3010 relating to animal endangerment. And for, I guess, this still, we have Lindsay Vierheilig testifying for Animal Legal Defense Fund. Is she available on Zoom? Welcome.

I am here. Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. My name is Lindsay Vierheilig testifying on behalf of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. As an organization, we support good samaritan bills like this one across the country because they are a common sense and easy way to protect animals and the the people who step in to rescue them.

We all know that cars can reach extremely high temperatures when parked, but many don't realize just how quickly it can happen. And that even on a nice 70 degree day, the temperature can rise to deadly temps in just a matter of minutes.

And dogs lack a way to cool themselves, making them at a much higher risk of heatstroke even on a mild a relatively mild day. So this bill would just allow people to rescue a dog in distress without fear of retaliation or that they will get in trouble for damages.

And across the 16 other states that have enacted similar laws, we haven't seen a rash of car window smashings or anything like that. And the steps that a good samaritan has to take as outlined in the bill provide extra security to ensure that people are not making rash decisions.

So thus, we strongly support SB 3010 and respectfully urge you to pass it out of committee. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next slide, we have Evan Oue testifying for Hawaii Association for Justice or representative on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay. We also have, among the testimonies that have been submitted, four testimonies in support, one in opposition and one who has submitted comments.

Is there anyone else who'd like to comment on Senate bill 3010?

If not, well, do you wanna ask questions of any of the prior test this night?

I don't think so. We're I think we're okay.

Okay. Next up is Senate Bill 3187. This one is relating to off-site construction. It implements certain recommendations of the speed task force. First up we have, Office of State Planning.

Aloha, chair, vice chair. Diana Sentness from the office of planning sustainable development. OPSD stands on its written testimony offering comments, and I

am available for any questions. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else here who would like to testify on this measure? Okay.

If not, I think we will take a brief recess to see if we might be able to round up some additional members for quorum recess.

Thank you very much. We are reconvening our Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee. We have two, decision making, actions that we would like to take up.

First is from this afternoon's tier clock agenda with the Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee on Senate Bill 3048 relating to the State Building Code Council. The recommendation was to pass with amendments proposed by Office of Planning and Sustainable Development and to add a defective effect book date.

Any questions, concerns?

If not, then for the vote, Vice Chair Lee.

Moving on Senate Bill 3048. Recommendation is to pass with amendments.

[roll call]

Chair, the recommendation's adopted.

K. Thank you. On the next bill, Senate Bill 3083, relating to protective orders. On this one, there was a number of, there were a number of concerns raised by judiciary. So recommendations to pass with amendments, noting the concerns regarding implementation in the committee report and adding a defective effective date.

Any questions, concerns? Okay. If not, vice chair lead.

Voting set voting on Senate Bill 3083. The recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting senators Hashimoto and Inouye excused. Are there any reservations or no votes? Hearing none, the recommendation's adopted.

K. Thank you. Next up are two bills that we heard previously. The first one is Senate bill 3040 relating to gun violence prevention. This, measure replaces the gun violence and violent crimes commission with the office of gun violence prevention.

And, the bill also appropriates funds. So chair would like to recommend that we blank out the dollar amount, noting the contents I mean, noting the amount in the committee report and passing this with, defective effective date. Any questions, concerns? Okay. If not, vice chair Lee.

Voting on SB 3040. The recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting senators Hashimoto and Inouye excused. Are there any reservations or no votes? So none, the measures adopted.

Okay. Next bill is 3107 relating to parole eligibility. And during the hearing, there was considerable discussion between the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Oversight Commission and a number of those, who have been advocating for parole eligibility.

So to keep the conversation going, chair recommends that we pass with amendments, inserting a defective effective date and noting some of the concerns raised in the committee report. Any questions, comments?

If not, then Vice chair Lee for the vote.

Voting on Senate bill 3107. The recommendation to pass with amendments, noting chairs Hashimoto and Inouye excuse during the reservations or no votes?

Hearing none, the recommendation's adopted.

Okay. That brings us to the end of these first two agendas, and we are again, going to recess so that we can reconvene with the committee on education, which is

We heard our agenda of 3187.

Oh, okay. You are correct. The third agenda that we had for this afternoon at 03:01pm included Senate bill 3010 relating to animal endangerment. This one would allow law enforcement officers, animal control officers, and firefighters to enter an unattended vehicle to protect the health, safety, or well-being of a pet animal. This one, we had testimony from the Hawaii Association for Justice, which recommended a small amendment.

So chair would like to include that amendment in the bill and to pass this with amendments. Any discussion, questions? If not, vice chair Lee for the vote.

Voting on Senate bill 3010, the recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting senators Hachimbo Dohenyo excused. Are there any reservations or no votes? Hearing none, the recommendation is adopted.

K. And on the last one, Senate bill 3187, this is relating to off-site construction, implementing recommendations of the speed task force. This one, appropriates funds for a working group within the State Building Code Council to develop proposals. Chair would like to recommend that we delete the dollar amount, include the reference in the committee report, and pass with the defective effective date. Any questions, concerns?

If not, vice chair Lee for the vote.

Voting on Senate bill 3187. The recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting excused absences of senators Hashimoto Niinouye. Are there any reservations or no votes? Hearing none, the recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you very much, Senator DeCort. That brings us to the end of this agenda, and we will take a brief recess while we await the, presence of the committee on education.

Good afternoon. We are convening this afternoon's, joint committee hearing between the Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee and Committee on Education.

We have three bills on the agenda this afternoon, and we'd like to get started with Senate Bill 2138 relating to the Hawaii National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program. Testifying for US Defense State Liaison Office, we have Kelli May Douglas on Zoom. Welcome.

Please proceed.

Oh, good evening, chairs and members of the committee. I don't I'm not, testifying on this bill.

Oh, okay. Thank you.

I'm sorry.

My apologies. The first step on this bill is University of Hawaii. Farrah Marie Gomes. Is that

Yes. I'm on Zoom.

Welcome.

Aloha, chairs, vice chairs, and members of the committee. I am Farrah Marie Gomes, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs with the University of Hawaii System. We have provided testimony on behalf of our Vice President for Academic Strategy, Debbie Halbert.

I'm testifying in support of this bill today, and I'm available to provide any, to answer any questions. We stand on our written testimony and appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony and support of this measure. Mahalo.

Thank you very much. Next, we have testifying for Department of Defense for Major General Logan. Welcome.

Yeah. Aloha, chairs, vice chairs, and members of the committee. Brigadier General Retired, Neal Mitsuyoshi. The department stands on it written testimony and support. But I just wanna highlight that competition for recruits between services has really never been a more competitive than it is now.

And this bill will give us the flexibility to ensure the Hawaii National Guard gets to retain the best and brightest. So just appreciate the committee's support on this and prepare to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Next up, we have Senior Brigadier General Walter Ross.

If not, moving on to Colonel Ronald Hogsten for Hawaii Army National Guard.

Welcome.

Aloha, chairs, vice, committee members. My name is Colonel Ronald Hogsten. I currently serve as the Hawaii Army National Guard, Chief of Staff and the Hawaii National Guard stands firm on our written testimony in favor of this bill.

I just add one comment of the incredible importance of the state tuition assistance program to our guard members to allow them to continue to their education benefits. And this bill will afford them the opportunity to expand to graduate programs to continue to professionalize our workforce. Thank you. Mahalo.

Thank you very much. Is there anyone else who would like to provide testimony?

We have received 13 testimonies in support and no testimonies in opposition on this measure.

Okay. Members, any questions?

Yeah. I have a question of the guard.

So right now you're prohibited from offering it to graduates?

Senator, currently the I believe it's that state's law is written. It just specifically says undergraduate degree. So we're just adding the language to allow the authority in the law to be able to extend to graduate programs.

Okay. So you are you are prohibited or not allow

Yes, ma'am.

Current such, which is why you need the bill. And you're not asking us for any money. You folks already have the funds.

Right. We will execute the program within the current budget. Yes, Ma'am.

That's good. Thank you.

Mahalo.

Turning the rest of this agenda over to education committee.

Thank you. Senate bill 2614 relating to education authorizes Department of Education to award a high school diploma to qualified persons who did not receive a high school diploma as a result of compulsory or voluntary induction into the armed services of the United States or whose high school education was interrupted due to wartime practices during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.

And we have some testifying. Kelli May Douglas in support on Zoom.

There you are. Aloha.

Hi. Aloha. Good evening, chairs and vice chairs and members of the committee. My name is Kelly Mae Douglas with the US Defense State Liaison Office, and we stand in support of this measure and also stand on our written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. Kitayashi, Department of Education.

Aloha, chairs, vice chairs, members of the committee. I'm Elizabeth Higashi on behalf of Department of Education. We start on our written testimony in support, and thank you for the opportunity. K. Thank you. We have nine seven others, that sent in testimony.

Anyone here wishing to testify on this measure? Hearing none. Questions, members? I just have go ahead. Senator Chibau.

The DOE, have you awarded diplomas in the past?

Aloha, Senator. Thank you so much for the question. Previously, this bill was, before 2020, so we did award at that time 12 kupono diplomas to veterans. Since then, we do have two individuals, veterans who are interested in receiving their diplomas. At this time, we've issued them certificates.

We wanted them to have the opportunity to celebrate and participate in graduation ceremony, and we're hoping that if this bill passes, we'd be able to issue them actual diplomas.

So the bill in 2020 doesn't allow you to continue to do this? You have to come back every year to ask for those?

We're hoping that with this amendment, we'd be able to continue, but it did sunset in 2020, so we had to stop at that time.

So there's no end date on this? No.

And how does the the DOE how does the department verify eligibility of these individuals?

Great question. So we have an application. And with that application, they do submit documentation showing that they were enlisted and drafted during that time. And then based on that application, we then work in proceeding and processing the diploma.

Very awesome. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Members, if there are no other questions, we'll move on to Senate Bill 2687. Description requires department of education to develop and and implement a 100 infantry battalion history curriculum plan beginning with the twenty twenty seven twenty twenty eight school year. Establishes a one year 100 history curriculum pilot program within certain public high schools during the 2627 school year requires a report to the legislature.

Inouey? Cathy Hayashi?

Aloha, chairs and vice chairs. Teri Ushijima, Assistant Superintendent from the Department of Education. So, we stand on our testimony providing comments. While the State Department of Education values the history of the one hundredth Infantry Battalion, It suggests that SB 2687 is not needed because the topic is already integrated into existing social studies standards, and the bill conflicts with the Board of Education policies regarding curriculum governance, that is with the teachers and the schools. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

So you're not you're not in support of

We don't think it's necessary at this time.

Thank you. Thank you. Let's see. Hawaii Military Affairs Council in support. Anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure?

Yes, please. Come forward. Yes. Just identify yourself. Go

ahead. My name is Kathy Hayashi, and I'm the president of the one hundredth Infantry Battalion.

Okay. I thought I called you, but I just got mixed up with Keith. I think

I got mixed up with the other guys. I'm Hayashi too. That's why I'm sorry.

Okay. May the Please. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Oh, chairs, vice chairs. Thank you so much for hearing this. We stand on our testimony, and we want to strongly support this bill. My father, she was in the hundredth as well as the April, and we believe there's a lot of value in sharing the legacy of these men that were plantation workers, segregated, and distrusted, and they were able to rise above all of this to become the most decorated in US military history.

There are a lot of values on how they were able to do it that we'd like to share, like the obligation, which is like, don't change the family name.

A lot of values that I think I have learned from my father. And also, I was senior vice president of Verizon and went to Smith College as well as a lot of leadership. And I believe that we should share these values with our Keiki so they can become high performance thinkers. So we stand ready to work with the DOE on sharing some of this legacy because there's only six living veterans right now. And for my father, you know, we they're we're all in our seventies.

So as far as sharing the legacy of living with this man and modeling their behavior, I think there's time is of the essence to to share these values. So any questions you have? Thank you.

Why don't you sit there? Members, anyone else wishing to testify on this matter hearing none? Sit.

Okay. Sorry. I see you're submitting

Oh, I'm fine. Go ahead. Please identify yourself. I think I know you, but you can go ahead and testify. Identify yourself.

Please proceed.

I thought you were talking to somebody before. I'm so sorry. Yeah. Hi. Committee chair and for allowing me to testify today.

My name is Steve Hsu, and I'm a filmmaker currently producing a feature documentary on the one hundredth for forty second regimental combat team. I stand on the written testimony that I submitted for SB 2687. And I I would like to point out that as a filmmaker, I do a lot of research around the community.

And if the DOE does have a line item for this type of information, I can tell you that they haven't really been fulfilling that goal because I just know people don't know this story, and that's why we're making a movie on it. Now I would tell you that, I think it's really important that we tell this story because it is a Hawaii strength.

It's, you know, Hawaii made independence for this country, over much of the last two hundred and fifty years, and it's gonna continue for the next two fifty. And I'd also say that this is key job opportunity for our keiki. So education should follow the jobs. It's one of the key industry industries here. So I thank you for the time, and I remain available for questions.

Thank you very much, Steve. Anyone else wishing to testify? We did get, 21 testimonies, you know, in support, two opposed, and two comments. And with that, members, we are open to questions. Any questions of the DOE?

DOE?

Does not the DOE already have a program?

Yes. It's, incorporated into our standards. And this is Rosanna Fukuda, our social studies specialist, and so she can speak to that.

Sure. First of all, I really wanna say this is an incredibly important topic. I mean, I think everything in social studies is incredibly important, and, you know, I I really do. This is something, though, that I actually worked with the Go for Broke National Education Association and with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii to create curricula around the one hundredth battalion and the four hundred and forty second aligned directly to our standards.

Social studies has four required credits for graduation and in four courses, modern history of Hawaii, participation in democracy, US history, and world history.

There are clear opportunities for four forty second 100, and the larger picture of, Americans of Japanese ancestry, to fit into those standards. And in fact, in modern history of Hawaii, there is a particular standard.

So without getting into the whole structure of our standards, but we do highlight certain certain topics that we feel are especially important to be taught and, offer resources around them, and with Modern History of Hawaii, very specifically, we have written in our standards the four hundred and forty second and the one hundredth, but that's not the only place that we highlight that curricula. We also in US history and in world history, we bring that forward.

US history, we definitely talk about the four forty second, But in world history, we have identified standards, where this curriculum is it would fit very, very well.

So we also have many resources. We welcome more. We collect resources, specifically around these topics that are available to teachers statewide.

Other questions? Yes. So what grade level of this be taught at?

So high school, it's world history, US history, participation, democracy, modern history, boy, and they can be it's up to schools to depend on which grades that they will be teaching, But it would be ninth, tenth, and Eleventh, usually.

Thank you. I think it's an important, lesson to be taught. Because Absolutely. My my father

was part of this battalion,

and he never wanted to tell the story. So we don't know the truth. Thank you.

So I can clear that I am very aware of this. What they spoke about is the cultural group broke national education center in Los Angeles collaborated with the JCCH. And my understanding is that it hasn't been rolled out or, you know, each principal can decide what they wanna do. And my understanding is that this important story isn't being done because it's a voluntary thing. They can choose whether or not to do it.

Thank you, Sanira. Any other questions, members? Sayashi, would you come forward? Are you aware of what's being taught now?

am very aware of this. What they spoke about is the cultural group broke national education center in Los Angeles collaborated with the JCCH. And my understanding is that it hasn't been rolled out or, you know, each principal can decide what they wanna do. And my understanding is that this important story isn't being done because it's a voluntary thing. They can choose whether or not to do it.

But in other places, like in California, for decades, they have it mandated that every kid needs to understand what happened with incarceration. Now here in Hawaii, we were attacked. And when I talk to kids and I ask them, who is Daniel K in Inouye? They say, oh, I don't know. It's somebody they named the airport after.

That means that we are not doing a good job. And for people, you know, people of color sitting here, you wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for what these guys did eighty years ago. 09/09/1981, President Truman, 1948 desegregated the military because of what these men did. It started right here in Hawaii with the one Puka Puka. These kids need to have heroes, and this kid is a hero right here.

And they look like us. They're people of color. And really, like I said, I'm retired. I retired from Verizon. I don't need to be doing this.

But, you know, like Senator Hidani, I mean, this is a very, very important story, and I feel that the values you know, when you look at them breaking through the gothic line when nobody else could for six months, And instead of going the slopey side where everybody kept doing the same thing, they called in the hundred four four two, and they said, you know, we're not gonna do the same thing. That's insanity to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

So they had the hundredth go down up the slopey side as a decoy, and then the third battalion went down. Like, imagine going from the Pali Lutau to Puka Bridge. I mean, they they went down to the bottom, and they climbed up like a 85 degree cliff, and they surprised the Germans from both sides.

They broke through the Gothic line, and this hundredth four four two ended the war in Europe, like, one month later on 05/08/1945. These are things that our kids need to be very proud of. We need heroes. And unless you mandate it like they have in other states and you know that, you know, there's a push to be, you know, Asian hate crimes.

And we but, again, I don't wanna get into this DEI thing, but, you know, these guys could be chartreuse, but they are the most decorated in US military history.

It has nothing to do with the Asian American thing. I mean, it's even a more compelling story because they had to overcome so many obstacles. But just in and of itself, it's an American elite war story, and there's so many values that go along with it. That's what I'm very passionate about. We can do that. We can do sorry for going on.

Thank you very much. You're just leaving. Can Dio, you come back on? So is this voluntary? Is this inclusion of this? The standards are not voluntary. How they how they meet the standards, may vary. So k. Can you elaborate on that?

So what we do is correct. The standards are not voluntary. That's something that governs every school. And I'm sure you've looked at some of our standards, so they can be rather specific. But when we developed the new standards, actually, 2018, not that long or not that new, but we did work with content experts in the field, so from universities in Hawaii, on the continent, etcetera.

And so when we looked at specific suggested content as being the most relevant, the most important, Asian Asian I won't say Asian history, but Americans of Asian descent, Americans of Japanese ancestry, and especially the whole, idea of of the whole history from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, even prior. We work also very closely with the Korematsu Institute.

Is it is it voluntary or is it the the teacher?

Study, the four forty second?

Or Is it embedded or is that left up to the individual

It is left up to the individual schools to decide exactly, but the standards are very supportive of that.

The standards are supportive, but similarly with the financial literacy, we, this body has for years, wanted fiscal literacy to be embedded, and we couldn't get it. And it's cause it's up to the board of education. And we just this year, they're gonna start this next school year to have it in, but it's been a an elective for a a long time, which is something that they said it's embedded, I mean, as an elective and

so forth. And that was DOE's excuse for not having financial literacy to be

part of the curriculum. Excuse for not having financial literacy to be part of the curriculum. And so what does it take other than a law to get you to have more consistency through the schools so that the students learn this is part of their history. Well, I

can also say the main textbook that is used for Modern History of Hawaii is from Best Press, and most schools use that in that course. It has heavy a large portion around the study of the hundredth and the four forty second. So even with that textbook

So when you say most schools use the textbook, they're

not interested. Say 100% of the schools use that textbook. No. I can't

Is there any curriculum that is done with 100% of the schools and that you folks dictate as to what should be should be done? Is there anything that's

So for our reading and our math curriculum, we do have a list that schools are able to choose from. Prior to that, you know, it's a little wider. But then we have those vetted lists, and we are in the process now with social studies and science to do the same thing.

Okay. I have more to say on that. Anything else? Anybody wanna chime in, Maria?

I have some follow-up questions. You know, I think part of what becomes difficult to, I guess, follow with individual schools is they may have access, you know, to the same textbooks. But it seems as though, you know, if, if we look at things like robotics or, you know, STEM types of activities, creative media, AI types of programming, it seems as though students today learn best if they're actually doing things or working on projects, you know, which, also focus on, you know, the stories.

But at the same time, they're really helping students understand values as well as other kinds of experiences which sort of illuminate Hawaii's experience in ways that, you know, textbooks by themselves may not do. And so in your social studies curricula, how much, I guess how much does the department require?

You know, some level of activity which also would tend to incorporate, you know, many of the different kinds of stories, which could be used by schools in a a variety of ways. But it seems as though just having the textbook is sort of, inadequate.

Yes. It's not just textbook based. That's one resource. And we do, and, you know, highly encourage and promote, the hands on approach. So several of our schools, you know, they do look at project based learning and in social studies.

We also have those units that schools may use and not just, you know, reading from the textbook.

So one thing, though, that does go from kindergarten all the way through grade 12 in social studies is a standard, and it's really based on taking informed action. And with taking informed action that we have it in elementary, middle, and high, and it's defined in an elementary way, a middle school way, and a high school way. So this is something because you're exactly right. It's not something that you just know. You have to you have to practice.

You have to do. And so I know, for example, I think it was I'm a high school. It was a high school that did history day, and National History Day is a big project in Hawaii, and they did it on one soldier in the hundredth battalion, and I think that project came out third in the nation. And so taking informed action really is you're taking the content. For example, this is one standard.

Analyze the sociopolitical effects of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Great. So you learn these things, but then what do you do with it? What how are you bringing it forward? What is the legacy of this?

So we encourage we work with schools across the state on how to take informed action around topics that are the most meaningful to them.

Do you have competitions? Do you have award programs?

His well, history day, it it's an opportunity for students to display their knowledge and apply it. And, we do send folks, right, to

Oh, we're one of the top states in the nation for National History Day, and many of the of the topics focus on local Hawaii history. We also do have award programs. One program that is about four years old is called Hawaii Schools of Democracy.

And in the Hawaii Schools of Democracy program, the without getting into the whole explanation of it, but the it's the first section is highly focused on our local history and national history and our local history and and, you know, making we're we're not mandating that they do Pearl Harbor or something like that with it, but this is something where we have spoken to schools about that they how they can integrate all of our local history into this program called Schools of Democracy.

So it's not just the hundredth and four hundred and forty second, but it's immigration into Hawaii, the history of Hawaii, all of that.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions? K. Hearing none. Decision making. Yes.

So decision making.

See, I think you are the lead on the last two. For the first bill, we proposed to reported out amended. It's just adding that one word. Okay. K.

The next one is the diplomas.

Yeah. No.

Okay. To line 3. Take out the. Okay.

Line Press 12.

Yes. And these.

Yep. So take out lines similar to 7. Long side. Yeah.

Keep

that in mind. It's gonna it's gonna more voting.

What if maybe

with this with this just to make a we ask the department to reflect back, and the goal of this would be to encourage the the use of a pilot project for us to then determine how best to think what we best in what we find.

Okay. I'll defer to you to do that. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Excuse me, chair. I have to count you back in.

I have to count you back in.

K.

We called the joint committee back to order for decision making starting out with Senate bill 2138. Yes. And you have the lead on that one. National Guard tuition.

Oh, okay.

For Senate bill 2138 relating to the National Guard Tuition Assistance Program. This is really just adding the word graduate. So the chair is recommending that we pass this measure in an unamended form. I think it will expand greatly. The students at University of Hawaii who can take advantage of this, so sounds like a good step forward.

Any questions, concerns for PSM committee Vice chair Lee?

Voting on Senate bill 2138. The recommendation is to pass unamended, noting excused absences of senators Hashimoto and Inouye. Are there any reservations or no's?

Seeing none, the recommendation is adopted.

Same recommendations for committee on education to pass as is. Chair votes aye.

Chair votes aye. Vice chair votes aye.

[roll call]

Measures adopted now.

Thank you. We're moving on to Senate bill 2614. Recommendation on this to authorize Department of Education to award a high school diploma to qualified persons. Recommendation is to pass as is. Any discussion?

Hearing none, chair votes aye.

[roll call]

Measure adopted.

On Senate bill hold on one second. For PSM committee.

Same recommendation passing unamended for the vote, Vice chair Lee.

Voting on Senate bill 2614, recommendations to pass unamended, noting excused absences of senators Hashimoto and Inouye. Are there any reservations or no's?

Seeing none, the recommendation's adopted.

Such an eager beaver here. Senate bill 2687. This is requires Department of Education to develop and implement the 100th Infantry Battalion curricular plan. Members, the recommendation, you know, I believe that this is really important for our students to be well versed and understand what happened and to have heroes in their life as well.

I think that it's not just the 100 infantry, but any any of the wars that involved Hawaii and Hawaii residents, I think is important. Also recognize we recognize as chair that it's the Board of Education that mandates as number of hours and so forth that would be required as far as teaching. And so I will defer to Senator Fukunaga whose bill it is as for recommendation for the amendments.

Okay. For Senate Bill 2687, I believe the goal is to have Department of Education report back on exactly how it is implementing a lot of the stories and experiences both from the hundreds battalion as well as many of the other veterans. And so the recommendation is to incorporate section two up through page pages two and three and end on page three, which talks about, establishing some form of history curricula.

We would look to amend the bill with references to a broader scale and ask the Department of Education to report back to the legislature on ways that it is implementing its social studies curricula in a manner that does in fact demonstrate, you know, active learning and use of these curricula.

And we would retain the pilot program at the end of the bill to serve as one model that the Department of Education and groups like the Hundred Battalion Center can work together on.

And then the legislature will then have a report from the department, as well as the efforts in this pilot project to make a determination next year as to how we might want to strengthen the DOE curriculum and also make available new sort of tools and resources that could help enliven a lot of the important Hawaii history that we wanna capture.

Just wanted to add that we wanted to make sure that it's not just school by school, but that it's completely across the state that this curriculum you folks would be looking at implementing. And hopefully, that if you folks really are serious about it, maybe we won't need a bill because then you'll come up with a plan in which you folks can incorporate. Right? Any questions, members? Any discussion?

Hearing none, recommendation is to amend to an SD 1. Chair votes aye.

For Senate Bill 2687 to pass with amendments.

[roll call]

Measure is adopted, madam chair.

Thank you.

For PSM committee, same recommendation, passing with amendments. Vice chair Lee.

Reporting on Senate Bill 2687. The recommendation is to pass with amendments noting excused absences of Senators Hashimoto and Inouye. Are there any reservations or no's?

Seeing none, the recommendation is adopted.

Great.

Thanks you, this committee meeting is adjourned. Thank you.