House Standing Committee on Public Safety

Good morning. Convening our Monday, March 16th, 2026, Public Safety Committee hearing. It is 9:00 AM, Conference Room 411. I wanna first start off by thanking all of the chat staff, our chief clerk staff, our technical staff, our vice chair staff, who worked hard over the weekend and did an incredible job in the time of emergency to reschedule this hearing. This is not normal.

We don't typically have hearings on Mondays, and so this was an incredible effort by all of our staff who did some tremendous work even as the state was being bombarded by rain and flooding. So, I just wanna acknowledge that. I also want to, just say that, you know, I really appreciate that the public had chimed in. There was a lot of concern out there, that there was something amiss, but in these kinds of situations, I was, I, I did confer with the Chief Clerk, and the resubmission of testimony is something that has become procedure in our practice here in the house. So, I also wanna thank the public who quickly mobilized and responded and was able, I hope, to resubmit the testimony that had been submitted previously, for the Friday hearing.

I really appreciate that the public has stayed engaged in this, and I just I really appreciate the fact that we can do this, virtually in some ways and that there was a lot of word that was out there that that got out there so that the public could stay involved. So, I do wanna thank the public as well. So, on that note, let's get started. First up, we have Senate bill 2138 relating to the Hawaii National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program.

First up, we have testimony in support of representatives from the Department of Defense.

Good morning, Chair Belatti, Vice Chair Iwamoto, and members of this committee. I'm...Acting Chief of Staff...We stand by this bill, support it, our testimony, and...any questions you may have.

Thank you. We'll—the process is we'll end, we'll have testifiers testify first, and then we'll answer questions following your all testimony. We have testimony in support from the Hawaii Army National Guard. Anyone in that? Okay. Testimony in support from the Hawaii Military Affairs Council. Alright. We have testimony in support from Deborah Halbert, Vice President of University of Hawaii, and testimony via Zoom by Michael Golojuch, Sr. Is Ms. Halbert on Zoom? I'm sorry.

Aloha, chair. Farrah-Marie Gomez, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Hawaii system. I'm here testifying on behalf of Vice President Halbert. We have submitted written testimony in support of Senate Bill 2138, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony and are here to answer any questions that you have. At this time, we will stand by our testimony. Mahalo.

Thank you. We have testimony from individual Michael Golojuch, Sr. Any other testifiers in the room? Any other testifiers via Zoom? Members, any questions?

Excuse me.

Can you go to this—can you please come to?

I submitted written testimony. Can I still say something now?

Yes. And this is for Senate Bill 2138. Ma'am, this is for Senate bill 2138 related to...

Oh, I'm sorry.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Any other testifiers in the room for Senate Bill 2138? Any other testifiers on Zoom for Senate Bill 2138? Seeing none. Members, questions?

Question.

Representative Shimizu.

DOD. Thank you, Harvey. This is a companion bill and in our earlier, public safety committee hearing for HB 1750, it came out in the testimony that this bill is already funded and sufficient for the purposes of this bill. Is is that still the case?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to confirm.

Thank you.

That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? Representative Shimizu, thank you for asking my question. Alright. Seeing no other questions, moving on to Senate Bill 3110. This is clarifying, relating to the Hawaii National Guard, clarifying that employees of all the Hawaii National Guard youth and adult educational programs are excluded from collective bargaining, and doing some other kind of just cleanup measures. We have testimony in support from the Department of Defense.

Good morning, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Premier General retired Neil Mitsuyoshi, I'm representing the Adjutant General. The department stands in its testimony in support and is available for any questions you may have.

Any other testifiers in the room for Senate Bill 3110? Any other testifiers via Zoom for SB 3110? Seeing none, for the representative from we're gonna be voting on this measure, on the measure that you're testifying on at the end of the, hearing. So you don't have to stay on, but if you'd like to, you're welcome to also stay on via Zoom. Okay. Moving on, seeing no other testifiers in the room or on Zoom. Members, questions?

Question Chair.

Go ahead. Representative Shimizu.

Thank you again for viewing here. Similarly, in a previous public safety, on HB 2291, It was stated that this this bill is completely federally funded. And I just wanted to confirm if this is still the case. Yeah.

It's there's no funding involved in this bill. This bill is primarily housekeeping bill. It's gonna do things like align the U talent programs federally with the Office of Secretary of Defense. It'll also help do things like, support the consolidation of positions under a single program ID. It'll help with, like, hiring and the pay structure, for, like, like, personnel in the huge challenge academy that we have to follow certain DODI and National Guard Bureau policies.

So there's no funding requirement, purely just to really update the current law to account for all of the new programs now that are under, what we call civil military. And lastly, it also recodifies the program as Civ Mil instead of just the U Challenge Academy program because right now we have programs like the About Face program, the job challenge program. So there's a lot more programs that are under this particular legislative section. And that's what this bill really does. And then lastly, sorry, one more thing.

It also codifies Nakula Alakai as the, you know, the local name for the program, and that was at the advice of the National Guard Bureau. So National Guard Bureau is trying to localize all of these youth programs in each individual state.

Chair. Can I ask a follow-up?

Yes. Go ahead.

So so all the things that you just mentioned, would they be, things that you're doing right now or you

Yes.

There there are things that we're actually doing, right now. Sometimes because of the way the law is written, it's it's a little challenging. And so this law will make it a lot easier, but no additional funds.

That's great.

Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, members moving on to Senate Bill 3109 relating to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. This has to do with, establishing the administrator of HEMA as deputy director and making other changes consistent with that as well as placing him on the salary or the position on the salary commission. Testimony in support from Department of Defense. Any? Go ahead.

The department, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee, Brigadier General Neil Mitsuyoshi representing the Adjutant General. The department stands on its testimony of in support and available for any questions.

Thank you. Any other testifiers in the room? Any other testifiers via Zoom? Seeing none, Members, questions? Seeing none. Okay. Moving on to Senate Bill 3082, relating to military families. This is, relating to authorizing, an eligible employee to take family for qualifying military exigency under state law. We had testimony in support from US defense state liaison office. I believe she presented via Zoom last time, so I think the testimony remains the same members testimony and support from department of labor industrial relations.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Sheryl Lee on behalf of Director Butai for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. We stand on our written testimony in support, and we'll be here for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Testimony in support from Military and Community Relations Office, DBEDT.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. John Green, the Deputy Director for Military and Community Relations Office. We stand on our written testimony in support and available to answer questions.

Thank you. Also, testimony and support from Lori Moore of all same office. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Scratch that. Testimony in support from Johnny Mae Perry individual. Testimony in support from Mike Goluby Senior in support. Any other testifiers in the room? Any other testifiers via Zoom? Seeing none, Members, questions?

Did you raise your hand?

Is this for a Senate bill

I think you just read her name.

3082. 3082.

Sure. Thank you. The question is, why are there no microphones in the room? We actually have a new system where there are microphones in the ceilings. So when you come to the podium, you are you're projected. No other testifiers, Senate Bill 3082, Members, questions?

I have a question starting with Department of Labor. Hi, thank you. Thank you for your testimony. As you're making your way up here, there's a paid family medical leave bill that's moving. Would that encompass these particular family members to take leave?

That I'm not quite sure. I'm not too sure. Okay. But if it relates to just family leave itself, I believe what we enforce would include this. Right. So it might be a part of it.

I think. Okay. I think it is. And then from, chair, may I ask a follow-up question from the military representative?

Military Community Relations Office.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony here on this bill. The earlier bill I mentioned. I'm sorry. I asked myself for the actual bill number, but the key family medical lead bill that is moving. I believe it was introduced by Chair Sayama. Have you taken a look at that bill?

I have not seen that bill.

Okay. So you haven't testified since

I would only know that this this isn't for medical situations under this bill.

Yeah. Both family. It's it's the paid family and medical leave bill. And I understand that would encompass this, but okay. Thank you. Perfect.

Okay. Any other questions? Alright. Seeing none. Members, moving on to Senate Bill 3240 relating to Military and Community Relations Office. This would appropriate funds to our department of business, economic development, and tourism through the military and community relations office to strengthen intergovernmental coordination for military and defense activities. We have testimony first in support from the Military and Community Relations Office.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Again, John Green, Deputy Director for Military and Community Relations Office. We stand on our testimony in support of the bill, and we're available to answer questions.

Thank you. We have testimony in support from Chamber of Commerce.

Chair, vice chair, second.

Hello, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Julian Kiyabu on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, we stand on our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Thank you. We have testimony in support from Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce. Testimony in support from Hawaii Military Affairs Council. Testimony and support from individual Leymomi Khan. Testimony in opposition, in person from Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project on the Zoom? Testimony in opposition, Chamber of Sustainable Commerce.

Here.

Go ahead, Miss Aynessazian.

Aynessazian. Aynessazian. Aloha Chair Belatti, Vice Chair Iwamoto and Members of the Committee. My name is Tanya Aynessazian, I'm testifying on behalf of the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce in opposition. Every generation asked the same question.

What kind of future are we building for our keiki? And that's the question today. We recognize that constructive dialogue between military and civilian sectors is important, but Hawaii's economic future should be community directed and built on a diversity of industries strengthening long term resilience rather than relying on any single sector. To understand why this bill is really concerning, we need to unpack the role of DBEDT. It's the central hub of Hawaii's economic future.

It's not a small administrative agency. Under DBEDT, its agencies responsible for statewide energy policy, land use classification, redevelopment, on and on, aerospace. So if we follow the money, we see that DBEDT is an agency that influences land, energy, water, housing, and economic development. It could help this department could help Hawaii build a diverse and resilient regenerative economy, but the bill is going in an about face, and it goes really far. Hawaii's defense economy is already enormous.

Direct funding. This bill is gonna direct funding towards programs involving K-12 students, introducing defense-related partnerships and pathways into our public school system under the umbrella of workforce development. But our keiki are not in school to be trained as a workforce pipeline for a world hell bent on war education to nurture curiosity, creativity, civic understanding, helping young people to explore the full spectrum of possibilities for Hawaii's future and their own Education should open worlds for young people and not narrow them. Furthermore, when military and defense institutions' communication strategies become embedded in programs for our Keiki, they don't just provide funding for schools. They introduce an entire world view, a world view that frames Hawaii's future and theirs primarily through US military and defense priorities.

And that's social programming. That's not organic economic development based on communities, desires, needs and inspiration. So the question before you members of committee of this committee is should we institutionalize deeper military dependence inside the very department responsible for shaping Hawaii's economic future and extend that influence into our schools? Spoiler. The answer is no. Thank you.

Thank you. These are nice. Thank you. We have testimony in opposition from Sierra Club of Hawaii via Zoom. We have testimony in opposition from Dave Mulinix, Greenpeace Hawaii via Zoom.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you very much. Yes. I'm in great we are in great concern about this bill. We are totally and completely against it. You know, the US military, it's you know, I guess his great concern here is just that our our country is is sliding towards fascism, and it's getting more and more obvious. We have a a president who who, you know I'm sorry. I'm just so upset about this. We had a president who kidnapped the president of a foreign country.

Mister Mulinix, mister Mulinix, I'm sorry. Please please stay on point with the bill.

Well, I am. I am. That my point here is that this bill is it reminds me so much of fashion because that's how the Nazis in World War Two, they they have youth camps training their kids to enter their psych into their culture. I'm sorry. And, so this is going after children as early as kindergarten to, indoctrinate them into the US military. US military has more money than God.

They have $1,420,000,000,000 that they have to spend. They just wasted $93,000,000,000 on just frivolous stuff. If they'd use that $93,000,000,000 and cleaned up Red Hill, that would have been a great idea. But they are not focused on providing, you know, the right kind of jobs for our kids here in Hawaii. So $1,300,000 would be greatly used to help us get more nurses, doctors, and those are the people that we need here, though and teachers.

If we're gonna build careers here in Hawaii, we need to build careers for the youth that is gonna actually help the needs of Hawaii. Anyway, so this the whole idea of giving more money to the military who has $640,000,000 that they spend on advertising recruitment. They have 47 recruitment centers right here in the state of Hawaii, 47 recruitment centers here in Hawaii. So this is a waste of money, and it's just really upsetting to me that this whole idea that fascism, you slide into it. You don't get there suddenly.

And, this is a very great concern, not just to us here in Hawaii, but nationally. So thank you very much. I hope you have a very good day. Please kill this bill. Don't be taken in by

Thank thank you, Mr. Mulinix. I hope I hope you stay dry there on I I think you might be on Hawaii Island. Thank you. We have testimony in opposition from Hawaiian Acres Community Association, Erin Truett. Testimony in opposition of Hulipak, Maki Morinoy.

Testimony in opposition from Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition and Climate Protectors Hawaii, Ted Bolen. Testimony in opposition from Aloha Lokeh Association, Sylvia Dolena. Members, we have, testimony in opposition from a number of groups, and I'm not gonna read through all of them. Is there any other group representative here in the room that would like to testify? Is there any other group representatives online or via Zoom who would like to testify?

Okay. I'm gonna go through our Zoom testifiers. We have testimony in opposition from Liko Martin, individual via Zoom. Cristina Holt, individual in opposition via Zoom. Go ahead, Miss Holt.

Thank you chair. I stand on my written testimony and strong opposition of SB 3240 and want to use this time to speak directly to a few arguments I've heard being made in favor of this bill. But first, I want to acknowledge everyone who had to resubmit testimony today because they were not told their original submission wouldn't count. If this is standard procedure, the very minimum we can do is send an email to let people know rather than relying on community to spread the word ourselves. It's not a big ask.

That is basic respect for the people who took time out of their lives to participate in this process. The people this bill affects the most, working families, people with jobs, and kids and lives, are the same people who can least afford to jump through extra hoops to have their voices heard. Now one argument that I've heard for this bill from representatives and senators is workforce development. But if we genuinely want to develop Hawaii's workforce, we can fund the Department of Education directly. We do not need to hand the Pentagon a propaganda office to justify education.

The fact that this bill exists instead of that one tells you exactly whose interest this bill serves, and it is not our kids. The argument that local families need this pipeline or the military will just import workers sounds pragmatic, but it leaves out the most important thing. As the adults in the room, it is our deepest responsibility to make sure that our kids grow up into a world that does not ask them to sacrifice their lives, minds, and bodies fighting rich people's wars. This pipeline targets public schools, which targets kids and families with the fewest options. That is not opportunity.

That is recruitment and entrapment. This bill was quiet at first because not that many people knew about it. But the more people heard, the harder they came out against it, and that's what happens when people understand what is actually being asked of them. And that is what results in the over 400 pages of testimony you've received today. War is a losing issue.

This one that we are currently in started unpopular and is only getting more so. Choosing to fund the war machine right now with our next generation is a choice that will follow everyone who makes it to the ends of their careers. We have long memories, and we are only getting louder. The 2229 lease renegotiations are coming, and Hawaii deserves to enter that conversation with leverage, not increased dependency. The only acceptable outcome today is complete and total referral.

You must stop this bill dead in its tracks right here, right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Holt. I wanna before I move on to the next testifier, I do wanna let the public know that any member of the public who would subscribe to hearing notice for these committees would have been automatically emailed the notice of the rescheduling, and so then would have been informed. Additionally, anyone who would have been using the legislator's bill tracking list service feature on our website would have also received notices when these bills were rescheduled or scheduled, canceled, or rescheduled. I will take that feedback, Miss Holt, of that maybe there should be some feature where we can have, individuals who had submitted testimony via the online submission process were also informed. I do not know actually the answer to that question of whether or not they were informed.

But I will say that again, given the circumstances, our staff did incredibly

I'm next. I'm next. Get out. Get out. Get out. Hold on. Go ahead.

Sorry. Okay. I just wanna explain to the public that our staff did some incredibly fast work on Thursday and Friday. So I really do wanna take that feedback back. We can improve our our our procedures certainly, but I do think that the community was, you know, informed to the best of the to the tools that were provided by our our system as it now exists.

So thank you, miss Holt, for the feedback. We have testimony via Zoom in opposition from Sherry Pollack. Go ahead, Sherry, Miss Pollack.

Okay. Can you hear me?

We can hear you. Go ahead.

Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. We're we're just a little bit, agitated over here. I'm just very grateful to have Internet and and electricity at this point to be able to even provide this testimony. So that's just a little bit of context. So apologies for being a little bit stressed out here. But let

me just provide my testimony and do wanna wish everyone Aloha to the Chair, the Vice Chair and members of the committee. My name is Sherry Pollack and I'm in strong opposition to this measure. To be clear, SB 3240 is the type of measure I would expect from a warmonger president and not, it does not represent the values of our state. Moreover, the military does not need more money. They already have $1,420,000,000,000 in budgetary resources.

In fact, a watchdog group recently revealed that the Pentagon in one month spent $6.9 trillion on lobster tails, 2,000,000 on Alaskan king crab, and 15.1 on ribeye steak. I urge everyone on the committee to Google lobster gate to find out more on how the Pentagon is spending our hard-earned tax dollars. There's a famous quote that says, you cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With that in mind, I would like to alert the committee that this measure is right out of a Nazi Germany playbook during Hitler's rise to power. We do not want our education system used to indoctrinate our keiki, which is essentially what this measure would try to do.

These plans that include children, especially kindergartners, are disgraceful. Bottom line, the military has more than a trillion dollars to play with. They don't need any more of our money. Let's use what's left of our tax dollars to fund real economic opportunities that actually benefit our communities. I urge you to vote no on this shameful measure. Mahalo.

Thank you, Ms. Pollack. We have testimony in opposition from individual Derek Silva on Zoom. Not present. Jackie Keefe, individual on Zoom in opposition. Go ahead, Ms. Keefe.

Aloha. Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. I do wanna stand on my written testimony. I want to Kakao some of the, testimony that was shared by my fellow opposition and just kind of highlight the irony of the fact that this committee is called the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs. And to me, it's it's really radiating irony in this moment.

We are very much less safe because of military actions, and we very much should be focused on putting our tax dollars in places where they are really needed. We here over on Maui are really suffering from this storm. There's only more to come, and we have roads crumbling. We have we have a lot of infrastructure that needs fixed. And if we're not going to put it, as Tina said, directly into the Department of Education, then I would urge for it to be put into actually fixing infrastructure.

And if we're going to focus on putting this money with DBEDT, then maybe we should focus on growing our reforestation as well as similar efforts because we we are really we are really suffering, and we really need to make sure that our money is being spent in a responsible way that truly does make us safer. So for your time, I'll yield back.

Thank you. We have testimony in opposition from individual miss Helani Sonoda Poli on Zoom. Okay. We have numerous testifiers in opposition, individuals. Members, you see that in your, packet. Do we have anyone else in the room who would like to testify? Ma'am, did you wanna testify on this bill? This is Senate bill 3240. Can you come to the podium, share your name with us and then provide your testimony?

About testifying right now, because I don't understand. Are you skipping all the rest of the 80 or a 100

We're not skipping

Opposition testimonies that I've read before I wrote my own?

We're not skipping. Members have all of this testimony in opposition in front of us. I'm saving time by not reading all of the names. But we do we have we have had it and do have it, and we do acknowledge it. And so I wanna offer testimony the opportunity to testify to anyone else.

I just like to respectfully ask you, chair, have you already been listed and called everybody who's waiting online to testify out of those over a 100 in opposition that wrote to us?

I'm gonna after you testify, then I will ask for anyone else who's on Zoom to testify.

Okay. Thank you very much. My name is Ellen Sofio. I'm a family practice physician.

I worked for seventeen years at Kalihi Paloma Health Center, a federally qualified community health center. And, after that, since then, I've worked for fifteen years in the Wheeler at Schofield. Because of my training in Michigan where I began to realize that there was a connection between contaminants in the water and public health. When I went out to Wahiawa, I immediately started finding out what's in the water and I suspect that not only are there agricultural chemicals, and, including glyphosate and many others and chemicals from the military bases in the water out there, but also depleted uranium from its use by the military in the 1960s and what were called Davy Crockett. I forgot the exact name, but they were basically grenades.

So, you know, Red Hill is just the tip of a larger iceberg of the public health consequences that have been immensely disastrous for this state and its citizens for many, many decades. And the state has turned a blind eye out of deference to the military and, the other powers that be the big five, etcetera. So, I sent my son to public school. I intend, I hope that my grandchildren, if I have any go to public school and the very idea of having kids from kindergarten, probably at, you know, with the most vulnerable, being harmed the most, like, you know, the Hawaiian population, which has already been devastated by the inroads of the, imperialist United States From the time of the genocide of the native Americans starting in the seventeen hundreds, this country has been about killing indigenous people. Now it's happening all over the globe with much more sophisticated technology than scalping native Americans, which was what was happening back then.

So I am vehemently opposed to this bill that would hold kindergartners through twelfth graders hostage in our public taxpayer funded public schools to be brainwashed and encouraged to sacrifice their lives in overseas wars to decimate other native peoples like the people of Gaza have recently been annihilated and, at the hands of The US, not just Israel, but at the hands of our US tax dollars. And now we see the same thing happening in Iran. So, the very idea in the so called Aloha state of holding our children hostage to be brainwashed and encouraged otherwise, if they don't enlist and actually potentially sacrifice their lives to become part of an arms manufacturing industry here in the Aloha state is just beyond belief. And I would just like to respectfully say to the members of this committee who may be conditioned, actually conditioned to just rubber stamp whatever the military wants. I hope that's not the case.

And I hope that he will decisively, get rid of this bill. And, you know, that's all I have to say.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing your testimony. Any other testifiers in the room, any testifiers via zoom? Can you please identify yourself and share your name and your testimony?

Aloha. Aria Juliet Castillo testifying on my personal capacity, strong opposition to SB 3,240. The U. S. Department of War has $1,420,000,000,000 allocated in resources. It's the most well-funded Department of War in US History. While Hawaii faces devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, along with historically underfunding public education, this bill proposes spending over $1,000,000 in taxpayer dollars to coordinate with the Department of War. The US says that Hawaii has a strategic location that is vital to the military.

Their decades long presence is already prevalent, extractive, and harmful. We should not be paying to court them. We should be doing everything we can to downsize the footprint and remediate the harm and reduce further damage. The Department of War looks attractive primarily because the state has failed to invest in alternatives, clean transportation, energy, food sovereignty, education, climate resilience, local workforce development. This is where our million dollars belongs, more than a million dollars.

Equally alarming, this bill of facilitation of military outreach into K-12 classrooms. If we want our schools to be teaching values, we should be funding partnerships with institutions like SPARK, Matsunaga Institute for Peace, not a pipeline to the Department of War. It is disappointing that this bill received a priority hearing where other measures with clear public safety and accountability implications like HB 2048, which would require cleanup and legislative oversight for military lands, HB1916, which would prohibit live fire training on public land trust, and HB2527, which would repeal federal condemnation protections, were not given a hearing in the same committee.

These measures directly address community safety. Providing them the opportunity for full consideration would have helped ensure politics affecting military activities in Hawaii are not evaluated through the lens of public safety and protection of our communities. Please defer SB 3,240.

Thank you, Ms. Castillo. Any other testifies via Zoom? Seeing none. And no other testifiers in the room, members, questions. Go ahead, representative.

Yes. Yes, sir.

John Green, deputy director. Those are community relations.

You know, my understanding of this bill is whatever money is eventually appropriated does not go directly to the military, but it goes to your committee, which excuse me, your committee. Right? Your office. Your office to accomplish some of the things that are are written in the bill. My question would be, you guys were established was it 2025?

2024

2024. Okay. And from the start, I know you had to do a live start up. Do you have, like, a list of what the your office has accomplished as far as this, purpose of your office. Yes. We have.

And we're we're happy to share with you, I mean, everything that we've done. We have a annual report that we have to list our accomplishments. We've worked just high level with the Hawaii Community Development Agency on securing intergovernmental support agreement with the Navy, for $16,000,000 for Kailoa's electrical infrastructure. We worked with the Department of Law Enforcement on cyber security for a critical infrastructure, as that relates to both public sector and the Department of Defense installations to share a critical infrastructure. We worked with Department of Education on public schools on military installations, trying to.

You know, basically remodel existing schools that are on public on military installations that serve both military dependents and nonmilitary dependents in addition to, I mean, a host of other things that we've worked on from our office.

I was able to forward that report. I'm sorry. Committee. Chair, can I get a follow-up question?

Yes. Go ahead.

So with this additional funding, do you folks have, like, a plan of what what additional. We try to accomplish.

Yes, so I think what a lot of the testimony focuses on is that, education piece, the workforce development piece. This bill also provides assistance to local businesses. The Department of Defense recently came out with what's called this Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, CMMC acronym for short, which basically requires all of their defense contractors, subcontractors, to obtain a certain level of certification to continue to work for the Department of Defense or a prime contractor.

So part of this bill will be to help local, small businesses either obtain or maintain that certification. We would also promote business development within the defense sector. From 2023, we had $3,900,000,000 from defense contracts in our state. That rose to $5,500,000,000 in 2024.

But what we're seeing is a unfortunate decline in local businesses. Less than 50% of those over contracts go to local businesses, and that has declined over time. So we wanna make sure that our local businesses continue to be, active within the defense sector of our economy.

So if it's not going to local businesses, it's going to outside entities?

That's correct.

Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes. For, the military, who's the military here? Did they just not testify?

They did not testify.

I have a question for the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Thank you. What is the difference between the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the Military Affairs Council?

Military Affairs Council is within the umbrella of the chamber. It's a separate office.

Okay. And you guys also represent so I'm just trying to understand what kind of what the difference is between the Military Affairs Council. Are you are you representing them here as well?

I'm representing the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii

Okay. Yes. Which but We do. Yes. It's Okay.

I'm not, speaking on behalf of the Military Affairs Council, but they are within our organization.

Okay. From your perspective, I guess, is umbrella organization. What is the difference between there seems to be a lot of overlap between what MACRO and the MAC does. Can you identify a key difference between what they do?

Yes. So I would agree that there is a a lot of similarity between some of the workforce development kind of work that they do. But, as the as the macro has stated, there is an emphasis on their side as far as some other infrastructural improvements and more community relations related to work.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And then for the macro. Yeah.

Okay. Mister Green?.

Thank you so much. Sorry. Oh, yeah. I'm confused about MACRO. So you're asking for state, taxpayer dollars to fund your office, even though we heard so much testimony talking about the over $1,000,000,000,000 budget of the Department of Defense that could be used.

Also, having been on the Board of Education, I understand that the depart what was then the Department of Defense Impact Aid Funding is always come in way under the amount that we should be getting according to many calculations. So we're already being short changed. I feel like that state tax payers already been short changed and already carrying the burden of educating paying for the education of a lot of military dependence. And here we are asking yet more, more from the Hawaii taxpayer to fund federal work.

How do you? What do we say to the Hawaii taxpayers already feeling overburdened? By this financial responsibility that is not being reimbursed by the feds regarding student impact date. And then you guys coming back and not you guys, but the feds asking to fund more of what they kind of do.

Right. I think, you know, to your point about, federal funding going towards, federal impact aid, which isn't just the Department of Defense. It's all federal employees, who take part in the the Impact Aid from the defense sector or from the the Department of Defense looks at. There is the public schools on military installations program, which funds the renovation of existing public schools that serve both military dependents and nonmilitary dependents. And they have contributed over, you know, close to $500,000,000 on the renovation of public schools that serve our students.

I can't speak directly to Federal Impact Aid. That's more department education, type situation as far as how they, you know, send out the surveys for their students and work with the department, federal Department of Education for those funds.

Are you also aware that the department the Hawaii State Department of Education, when we allocate the money, they pay it's my understanding from being on the Board of Education that they pay for half the salaries of all of the ROTC program administrators in all the public high schools.

Any other questions?

I have a question.

Okay. Who?

Yes, sir. You know, I guess that concern about the, education aspect of this bill is of great, great concern to many people. What was your office? Janelle. And I'm sorry. What was your office involved with the, introducer regarding the the education aspect of this bill?

We weren't necessarily intimately involved with it. And I I think when when we look at the I'm certainly respect all the the testimony in opposition. You know, if we were to offer any kind of amended language, it wouldn't be from K-12. It would be probably more from junior high school through 12, and it would focus on, not recruitment. We we are not recruiting for the Department of Defense.

We're not recruiting for the components of the military. What we're trying to do is is identify areas where there's you know, there may be a nexus to working with the military, whether it's trade, stem, cyber, but there's also opportunities outside of the military to to help our state just create a, you know, an educated workforce, whether they work for the Department of Defense or not.

Sure. Can I have one last question?

Go ahead.

You know, last session I introduced a resolution that, was heard in this committee and it was establishing a work group with the head of our state and the head of the military to work together, to see how, how the state could benefit from the military's presence and their resources, which are, significant. And I guess that would be my desire is you folks have an existing footprint. There's no question about that, and how can the state maximize that benefit for our regular people here, you know, whether it's accessing parks or sports recreation, housing.

I would actually say that's part of the mission of our office is to find that a mutual benefit between the components, the installations, and the broader community and how we can, you know, find areas where there is that community benefit. He's to, you know, we we have to acknowledge that there's a significant military presence here, but how do we find that community benefit that relates to that military presence?

Okay. Thank you, Chair.

Hold on, Mr. Green. Any other questions? Okay. Mr. Green, I have a question because yes, I'm listening and looking at the testimony carefully, really honing in on the issues or the concern about kindergarten through 12. So if this bill were to move forward, you've already stated that you're amenable to language that would, kind of curtail that and move it from junior high school through 12. But what kind of workforce development programs are, is your office envisioning that is happening at that level?

We would probably envision, when we talk about cybersecurity, cybersecurity information technology, STEM, trades. We have, know, advanced manufacturing increasing in our state that has a, dual use purpose to it, both from a military perspective and from a industrial perspective that's not military related. But we would be interested in in kind of pursuing those features, like, whether it's cyber camps or STEM camps or trade camps, whether those students work for defense contractors or not. It's just that we want to ensure that we have a, you know, a very capable workforce.

And this is not about ROTC recruiting.

No. It is not.

Okay. That helps. Can I have a follow-up question? Thank you, mister Green with Chamber of Commerce. So I think the difference between Chamber of Commerce and then MAC, MAC is list is a group of kind of advisors, right, within the different industry sectors.

And my understanding has been that some of the workforce development is to kind of, again, like what Mr Green said, cultivate this place where there's could be shared innovation, shared strategies. Can you speak to what this kit the school workforce development opportunities are? Because I think I think the MAC is the one that's kind of working in this space, right, with DOE and looking for partnerships.

Partnerships as far as

For workforce development.

Yes. I mean, as far as the MAC goes, my understanding is that, you know, the MAC and the MACRO similarly share, some of the workforce development aspects of of a a lot of the different functions that support the military. I'm sorry. Could you repeat your question one more time?

This is not fair because you're not actually from the MAC, but because my, again, what I want to emphasize and understand is that the shared partnership is to assist with workforce development, whether or not it's military or not. Because, like, we have a shortage of cybersecurity technicians, so, you know, they may be getting training and it might be a program that is supporting, you know, military-related efforts, but it's also just about a shared partnership so that we can work in these areas where we need a lot of people.

And what is also I'm very interested in is the chamber is very keen on making sure that we can become a manufacturing space beyond just the military aspects of it, which is critical to our economy. Is that an accurate kind of explanation of it?

Yes. Through yeah. We the the MAC operates several programs that kinda help with that manufacturing and workforce development. As far as I mean, the MAC and the MACRO go, I think they serve similar purposes. I mean, as mentioned, the military spending in the community is increasing. The presence is increasing. And, you know, I I appreciate the work of the MACRO in trying to be a better public partner as far as their presence within the economy and the community.

Okay. Thank you. I get just one last comment, and I know I'm I'm actually, like, trying to utilize your expertise. I mean, again, this manufacturing, If Hawaii can build up this sector and then we don't have to rely upon uncertain supply chains in the future because we can have some degree of manufacturing here based upon all these kinds of maker technology we now have. Like, that is something that is important to our state and to our economic development. Isn't that the case?

Yes. Of course. And, you know, there are there are companies that lie outside of the military that, again, support the military, and that's where that kind of training is very accessible, from, you know, from starting at, like, a high school age through college, you know, providing that kind of workforce pathway and security that can then go off into industry should people choose.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions?

No? I have a question. Actually, it's a

Follow-up question and then we'll you.

Perhaps maybe it's for the physician since you mentioned how many testimonies there were. Would you be surprised to know that there were five? Oh, there were 286 testimonies in opposition. Does that sound right? Oh, okay. That's surprising because you mentioned a 100.

I've been struggling because of the storm. To go to a coffee shop to submit my own testimony. Sorry about that time. I think there were, like, there were over a 100, I guess.

So I believe.

Increased since then. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Representative Iwamoto. I will also acknowledge that staff passed out six additional testimonies in opposition as you were sitting here, so we do want to acknowledge that. All right. Great conversation members. Any other questions? Seeing that we do have for a- why don't we take a brief recess to see if we can other members? Otherwise, we will take a two-minute recess. Two-minute recess.

Seeing that we do have quorum, why don't we take a brief recess to see if we can other members? Otherwise, we will take a two-minute recess. Two-minute recess.

Good morning. We convene our 9AM on public safety committee hearing. Today is March 803/16/2026. First up Senate bill 2138 members. This is relating to the Hawaii national guard state tuition assistance program. Chair's recommendation is to defect this with a defective date as that is the proper, the normal procedures of, our chamber and this hopefully will move along. It is, is a trip of referral. So let's get this out members chair, members, any questions, comments, or concerns? Vice Chair for the vote.

Voting on SB 3138. The Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye.[Roll Call] Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Representative Shimizhu, could you just speak up a little? Your voice tends to be softer. We're getting some feedback, but you're

you're a little bit soft. So when you speak, just speak up. Okay. Thank you. Next up, we have Senate bill 3110 relating to the Hawaii National Guard. Chair's recommendation is to pass this with a HD one with a defective date and technical amendments needed for clarity, consistency, and style. Members, any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote.

Voting on SE 3110, SD one, chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting the excused absence of representative Ichiama. Are there any members voting no? Any members voting with reservations? Seeing none, Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. On Senate Bill 3109 relating to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Members, this does contain a defective date, but to to make it an HD one so we can make sure it doesn't go all the way through with with a defective date in continuation. I'm gonna further defect the date to July 3000. And so if this, bill continues to move further, we know that we need to continue to work on this in conference. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote.

Voting on SB 3109 SD one. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments, noting the excused absence of representative Ichiama. Are there any members wishing to vote? No. Any members wishing to vote with reservations? Seeing none at chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. Members on Senate Bill 3082. This is relating to military families and and the lead question. Chair's recommendation is to, again, do an HD one defecting the date to 01/01/3000 so that we know that as this moves forward, this has to go to conference and we don't push it out with a a further defective date. Okay. Comments, questions, or concerns? Seeing no

I have a question. I have a comment. Yes. I'll be voting with reservations. I support, paid family and medical leave for all workers. So I, that's the reason why I support this bill. However, I do have reservations about singling out a specific group, because I just feel like it's a part part of labor moving together, united, is really important, and not certain people getting ahead and getting certain benefits leaving others behind. So for that reason, I'll be voting with reservations. Okay.

I respect that I would rebut a little bit, but, I would just say that this is actually just aligning them so that they actually fit with with within our program. And so this is not actually providing additional extra. And in fact, I actually think, now including the language of qualifying military exigency, given the state of affairs, this actually might be a really, really important thing to do to protect our families and ensure that they do actually have the lead that they're going to need as the world continues to turn. So with that said, I appreciate your comment, vice chair, but I will also acknowledge that you can continue to vote with reservations. But go ahead, vice chair for the vote.

Okay. Voting on SB 3082 SD one. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Noting the excused absence of Representative Ichiama, are there any members wishing to vote no? Any members other than myself wishing to vote with reservations? Seeing none, chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, vice chair. Members on SB 3240 we've received a lot of testimony. We've heard a lot of conversations. Chair's recommendation is gonna to defer this to decision making for Wednesday at our I'm gonna put it at 11AM, Wednesday, 11AM, to allow for, us to kinda consider the, testimony as well as, on, on all sides. So we will, defer for decision making Wednesday, March 18 at 11AM agenda. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay. Seeing none. We are adjourned.