RELATING TO CULTURE.

SB3200

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

3200

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to culture
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION 1.
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The
legislature finds that the State rightly recognizes Native Hawaiian contributions
to state culture and history, including through holidays, like Prince Jonah
Kuhio Day Kalanianaole Day, on the twenty-sixth day in March, and King
Kamehameha I Day, on the eleventh day in June.
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However, the State does not reserve a day to recognize the significant contributions
of immigrants and immigrant communities to the State's history and culture.

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The legislature further finds that hundreds
of thousands of immigrants have come to the State since the mid-nineteenth
century.
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Beginning in 1852, more than fifty
thousand Chinese laborers immigrated to the State.
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In 1878, the first of more than sixteen
thousand Portuguese immigrants started arriving.
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More than two hundred thousand Japanese immigrants
began arriving in 1885.
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Korean
immigrants, in their turn, began arriving in multiple waves starting in 1903.
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Filipino immigrants started settling in the State
in 1906, and by 1932, they formed the majority of laborers on local sugar
plantations.
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Numerous immigrants from
many different nations have come to the islands and now call the State home and
many individuals from those communities have gone on to contribute to the State
and to the United States as the nation's first governors, state senators, and business
and community leaders of foreign ancestries.

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The legislature finds that, while state
history over the centuries includes many difficult periods of injustice,
challenge, and conflict amongst everyone who has called the islands home,
Native Hawaiian residents and immigrants from numerous nations have integrated
and transformed the State into a remarkable melting pot where Polynesian, Asian,
European, and American communities and cultures have converged and prospered
together.
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In 1959, Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., addressed the state legislature and cited the State as "a noble
example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and
racial justice what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the
country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the
moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man�s inhumanity to man, to
come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and
racial justice".

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The legislature further finds that
Statehood Day, recognized annually every third Friday in August, remains
controversial due to generations of injustice that culminated in the federal
government issuing the 1993 apology resolution for committing acts that "resulted
in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian
people".

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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

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(1)
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Recognize
and celebrate the contributions of immigrants and immigrant communities to the
State by establishing a new state holiday, to be known as Immigrants Day, that
will coincide with National Immigrants Day, which is held annually on October 28;
and

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(2)
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Help
heal injustices of the past by changing Statehood Day from a state holiday to a
day of recognition observed annually on August 21.

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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section
to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

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"
�8-
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Statehood Day.
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The twenty-first day of August of each
year shall be known and designated as "Statehood Day" to recognize
and memorialize the annexation of the State as the fiftieth in the nation on
August 21, 1959; provided that Statehood Day is not and shall not be construed
to be a state holiday.
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SECTION 3.
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Section 8-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

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"
�8-1

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Holidays designated.
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The following days of each year are set apart
and established as state holidays:

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The
first day in January, New Year's Day;

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The
third Monday in January, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day;

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The
third Monday in February, Presidents' Day;

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The
twenty-sixth day in March, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day;

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The
Friday preceding Easter Sunday, Good Friday;

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The
last Monday in May, Memorial Day;

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The
eleventh day in June, King Kamehameha I Day;

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The
fourth day in July, Independence Day;

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[
The
third Friday in August, Statehood Day;
]

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The
first Monday in September, Labor Day;

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The
twenty-eighth day in October, Immigrants Day;

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The
eleventh day in November, Veterans' Day;

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The
fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day;

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The
twenty-fifth day in December, Christmas Day;

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All
election days, except primary and special election days, in the county wherein
the election is held;

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Any
day designated by proclamation by the President of the United States or by the
governor as a holiday.
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SECTION 4.
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Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory material is underscored.

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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

State
Holiday; Immigrants Day; Statehood Day; Day of Recognition

Description:

Establishes
Immigrants Day as a state holiday that is held annually on October 28.
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Changes Statehood Day from a state holiday to
a day of recognition.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.