Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary

Thank you for joining us on this wet Tuesday, April 7, 03:00 in the afternoon, Room 224. We have a joint committee with the Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs and our good friends from the Committee on Transportation. This hearing is being streamed live on YouTube. If we have any kind of catastrophic ending, we will post a public notice as to when we will reconvene. We ask those who are gonna testify to keep their testimony to two minutes.

We have two items on this agenda, SCR 132 and SR 124, urging the City of Honolulu to take necessary steps to finalize, prioritize, and materialize the Makakilo Drive Extension project. On our testifiers list, we have, no one willing to express an interest in testifying in person. Is there anybody in the room that go ahead. Let's go to you.

Good afternoon. Michael Golojuch Jr. he/him pronouns. I have called Makakilo home since 1981 since 1981 day. City has promised us a second access. There is no second access to Makakila.

As we sit here today, just so you all know at the bottom of Makakila Drive is a gas station. If something were to happen, we'll try to refilling those tanks would be catastrophic for us. We'd be trapped in Makakila with no way in, no way out except for Makakilo Drive it from coming up from couple ways. So we encourage you to pass this resolution. Call upon the city to do something and help protect us. Thank you.

Is there anyone else wishing to testify on these two resolutions? Members, any questions for Ms. Wolcher? If not, the two chairs have conferred.

We'd like to pass both these resolutions out as they are. Any discussion? If not. Senator Chang, I vote yes.

Chair's recommendation for SCR 132 and SR 124 is to pass unamended. Chair votes yes. Vice chair votes aye. Senator DeCoite is excused. Senator Richards?

Aye.

Senator Fevella?

Yes- Aye.

Recommendation is adopted.

Thank you.

For the Committee on Transportation, same recommendation to pass SCR 132 and SR 124, unamended. Any discussions? Hearing none, Vice chair for the vote, Chair goes aye.

Chair's recommendation is to pass SCR 132 and SR 124 unamended. Chair and Vice chair vote aye. Senator Kanuha?

Aye.

Senator Lee is excused. Senator DeCort?

Aye.

Madam Chair, recommendations adopted.

Thank you. Thanks, folks.

Thank you for your patience. We're convening our joint committees with Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee and our good friends from the Committee on Judiciary. We're on our three zero one agenda. We have two items on this agenda. They are SCR 11 and SR 9, requesting the US Congress to pass legislation to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex sex sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service.

On our testifiers list, we have, via Zoom, Sandy Harjo Livingston.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

How about Lassmin Chaney on Zoom?

Hi. Good afternoon. Yasmin Chaney for the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women. I stand on our in testimony in support of these resolution as comprehensive anti discrimination laws contribute to healthier, more equitable communities and foster environments where everyone can thrive. We thank the committees for their consideration and support.

Great. Thank you, Lassmin. Kat Brady also via Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Chris Cofield, Aloha Alliance.

Hello, chairs, vice chairs, and committee members. I'm Chris Caulfield speaking to you as the president of Imua Alliance today in support of these resolutions. For us, nondiscrimination protections are essential survivor protection policies. LGBTQ individuals experience higher rates of sexual violence and intimate partner violence in the general population. There's research that shows that sixty one percent of bisexual women and forty four percent of Lesbian women have experienced gender violence or stalking by an intimate partner compared to thirty five percent of heterosexual women.

There's also some really shocking data about the transgender population. According to the Human Rights Campaign, fifty four percent of transgender and non binary individuals have reported IPV. And so discrimination for us is not separate from, violence, from protections for violence or exploitation, it increases vulnerability to both. Survivors often who face housing discrimination are often unable to flee, abusive partners. People who can't access homelessness services are more likely to be homeless, which is a huge, risk vulnerability to exploitation.

So, we hope that you'll move this measure forward, to take a stand against discrimination, in our state and in our country. Thank you so much.

Great. Thank you, Chris. Mike Golojuch?

Good afternoon. Michael Golojuch junior, he and pronouns. I am president of Pride of Hawaii. We stand in strong support of this resolution before you. We know it may not be admit nothing may actually happen with the Congress that is so hostile towards the LGBTQIA community.

And that is an understatement. Because as I sit here today, we are in had three warnings this year from the Lincoln Institute regarding we are in the early stages of a genocide. Here in The United States against the transgender community, which is why this is a important message to be sent out clearly and loudly that Hawaii does not believe in that support discrimination, and we call upon our Federal Government to do everything they can to stem this tide of hatred and discrimination that we're seeing.

We've seen an increase in hate crimes. Towards the transgender community, and the transgender community is under daily attack for the Federal Government.

So we encourage you to pass this resolution to at least send a message loud and clear that we do not accept this here in Hawaii and that we, hopefully, will send that message to everybody that lives here in this state. Mahalo, and we encourage you to pass this.

K. Thank you, Michael. We might have someone from Hoku PAC via Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on these two resolutions? If not, members, any questions?

I would just like to clarify.

Yes. Senator Fevella.

This so just a little bit clarification. I read the the bill, but this is not just for the LGBT community. I know you guys are under a lot of pressure of what Federal Government, but I thought we had protection statewide for you for any kind of discrimination issue when it comes to housing and any kind of providing for all of the community.

We do, but this is for the federal level because we do not at the federal level. That's why we're seeing the trans community being attacked on a daily basis that this is having the Federal Government having that layer of protection is so desperately needed.

So for our statewide, because if they if the federal is not protected you guys, we're not gonna we we might not honor it as a state level. So if somebody discriminate you against housing because we talk about the homeless community and, you know, we know a lot of them that is have the lifestyle and getting hard time getting public housing. Wouldn't the state step in and and help provide that or with the federal mandate?

What the problem comes in is if somebody challenges the state law and so goes all the way to the Supreme Court. What happens, unfortunately, is that the federal federal law sup supersedes our law. And so we at the federal level, if there's any way for them to attack what we're doing here locally, the Federal Government within the Supreme Court within say that it's the federal law that supersedes state law.

And so that's why we need the protections at the federal level to mirror what we're doing here locally because it only gives us protections here.

And then we're looking not only for ourselves, but our, family, our Ohana back on the continent.

Right.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. Sure.

Appreciate it. Thank you, Mike.

Any other questions? If not, the two chairs have just conferred and we'd like to pass both these measures out as they are written. Any discussion?

If not, Senator Chang, I vote yes. Chair's recommendation for SCR 11 and SR 9 is to pass unamended. Chair votes yes. Vice chair votes aye. Senator DeCoite?

Senator Richards? Aye. Senator Fevella? Aye. Recommendation is adopted.

Aye.

Thank you.

JDC member, same recommendation. Any questions or concerns? If not, vice chair.

Chair Rhodes. Aye. Vice Chair Rosales. Andrew Chang.

Aye.

Senator Sandmeier adjourned. Excused. Senator O'Rourke. Excused. Measures are done.

Thank you. Thank you, Ariel. We return. Adjourned.