Hawaii’s legislative season is in full swing and 2 bills that have caught the eye of the public are HB #755 and HB #425 relating to paid family medical leave. As it stands, the United States is the only developed country that does not offer its citizens paid family medical leave. While some states have begun to offer this benefit, supporters of this bill hope that Hawaii will be the next state to pass this legislation.

Imagine this, you and your partner discover that you are expecting a tiny bundle of joy! As you prepare for your family to grow, you are informed by your employer that you are only eligible for 6 weeks of Temporary Disability which only supplements 60% of your pay. However, when the time comes to give birth, you experience some complication and are forced to do an emergency C- section. While you are home still recovering, you and your partner have to decide between you recovering your health at home or going back to work to support your family financially. Who could make such an impossible decision? Sadly, this is the reality for many Hawaii families! Many of the testimonies in strong support of this bill shared similar stories of having to choose to care for their families or themselves or pay the bills to survive in the most expensive state. Paid Family medical leave proposes that Hawaii employees be allowed paid leave while caring for themselves or family members during times of emergency or crisis.

While the bills have garnered a lot of support, those who oppose the bills have concerns about adding additional taxes and fee’s to small business owners who are already struggling to stay afloat. HB No. 425 is written that the Paid Family leave benefit be extended to only state and county workers, which would not affect small business owners. However, those many supports of HB No. 425 bill suggest stronger support for HB No 755 that will extend this benefit to all and not just State and County workers. In testimony given by Nicole Woo from Hawaii Children’s Action Network, she shared it’s not realistic to assume that every family has someone who works for the state or county and that this benefit needs to be extended to everyone in Hawaii.

Who’s paying for it?

The number one concern for the who oppose the bill is where will the money come from. Business owners are concerned about the additional taxes they will need to dish out for their employees. HB No 755 propose that in January 2028 employers begin contributing to a fund to support this measure and in July 2029 people can begin to apply and receive benefits as needed. The concern by those who oppose bill is that business owners are already required to provide medical insurance for employees and many already offer PTO to their employee’s. The concern about where the funding will come from is valid, but supporters of the bill insist that the employer will not be paying extra then they already have to and have produced research that suggest employee retentions are higher as a result of this benefit.

Where is the Bill at now?

On February 12, 2025 HB No 755 passed with amendments through its committee hearing and is on its way to the Finance committee for a hearing to review its financial implications. This bill would be a game changer for Hawaii and I look forward to following it and seeing where it lands.

Additional Information

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=755&year=2025

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2025/bills/HB755_HD2_.HTM

Izzy opened her presentation with the questions “What is civic engagement?” My first thought was doing something that contributed to society, like voting. The American Psychology Association defines civic engagement as an individual and collective actions designs to identify and address issues of public concern. Another definition is any activity that contributes to a more effective democracy. Learning and understanding how laws are created is a great place to participate in civic engagement.

“What’s a legislator?“

A legislator is a person who makes laws and policy. In the State of Hawaii we have a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate and the House are filled with politicians representing their respective district and are responsible for creating laws and policy to support their communities and overall the state of Hawaii. The Senate is made up of 25 members with a 4 year term and the House is made up of 51 members with a 2 year term. Do you know who your House Representative and Senator are for your district? Below will have a link you can use to find your legislator’s.

“I can participate in Law making?”

You sure can! Have you ever heard people requesting testimony for a proposed bill? That’s where you come in, civic engager! In order for a law to be made, a bill must be proposed by a lawmaker. The bill then must be assigned to a committee, at this point usually there is a request for testimony to be written or presented to committee. You can submit a written testimony via online or you can attend a live hearing a provide a verbal testimony. Keep an eye out for a later blog, where we will go through the complete process of submitting a testimony online!

The kick off for the 2025 Hawaii state legislative season was on January 15th and set the tone for an interesting and productive legeslative season! Stay tuned for additional blogs on upcoming bills and opportunities to practice Civic Engagement.

Additional links:

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/legislators.aspx?chamber=H

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/home.aspx

2025 Legislative schedule

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/docs/sessioncalendar2025.pd

Sign wavers on Bayfront Highway

The Domestic Violence Vigil was a somber and beautiful ceremony. It began with Pastor Renee Goody setting the tone of the event and praying. Then Hawaii County Mayor, Mitch Roth gave a short speech and proclamation declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We then had a member from the Prosecuting Attorney’s office provide stats and information on Domestic Violence in Hawaii County. The information was educational and helpful. Then every one in the crowd was give a small electric tea light in a purple cup and members of the Hawaii Police Department and Hawaii fire department read the names of people who had lost their lives to Domestic Violence in Hawaii. People in the crowd also held up signs with their names and the audience were also given the opportunity to say aloud someone’s name who wasn’t mentioned on the official list.

The family of Brandy Ebanez held up her name and banner proudly. Brandy Ebaniz was murdered by her partner in 2022 and dumped in a river. Brandy was originally from Pahala, but moved to Washington with her partner and 2 daughters to try make a new life. Sadly at Brandy’s passing, she was in her 1st trimester of pregnancy. While she didn’t lose her life in the state of Hawaii, she is still a Hawaii girl and her family showed up to represent Brandy’s beautiful spirit. Brandy is described by her Ohana as a kind hearted, strong, devoted mother and a beautiful person overall. Brandy, we honor you, your life and your legacy. We will not forget.

Brandy

Ebanez

The DV Vigil ended with the awarding of the Purple Ribbon Award winners. The Purple Ribbon award is awarded to those who have displayed outstanding dedication to the Domestic Violence Movement and provided positive community impact. East Hawaii gives 2 purple ribbon awards, one to an individual and one to an organization. The Individual award winner for 2024 was Cheylee Octovio. Cheylee’s life was completely altered in June 2021 when her partner stabbed her multiple times in front of their 2 small children. Since that faithful night, Cheylee has been a fierce advocate against Domestic Violence and spoken publicly about her experience with the criminal justice system. A truly well-deserved recipient of the Purple Ribbon Award, recognized for her resilience and advocacy. The organization that was awarded the purple ribbon award was Men of Pa’a. Men of Pa’a was founded and is led by Iopa Maunakea. The mission of Men of Pa’a is to engage Kanaka in Hawaiian based values and practice. Men of Pa’a are a stellar example in our community of men mentoring and working with other men to shift perspectives and start generational healing. Another well deserved awardee!

While it rained for most of the 2024 DV Vigil, it proved to be a successful event as everyone in attendance seemed to be having a good time. October is over but Domestic Violence is still prevalent and usually ramps up around the holidays. If you or anyone you know is experiencing Domestic Violence please contact emergency services or call the Domestic Violence hotline at 808-959-8864.

Additional Information Links

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/10/03/former-hawaii-island-woman-found-dead-washington-state-river

https://menofpaa.org

https://nnedv.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/18th-Annual-DV-Counts-Report-HI-Summary.pdf

Hundreds of children go missing in Hawaii, yet we have never received MAILE AMBER alerts for them. Why is this? In order for the MAILE AMBER alert to be issued, there is a very specific and strict criteria that needs to be met. The child needs to be under the age of 17, there needs to be a clear indication that the child was abducted, and that the child is in immanent harm. The 15 year old teen clearly met this criteria, but what about other children? The ones labeled “runaways” or just the ones who simply disappeared? Where are these children?

Is Human trafficking really happening?

The Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women, Girls and Mahu Taskforce was created in 2021 to address the alarming rate of missing Native Hawaiian Women, Girls and Mahu. The Taskforce is led by principle investigator Dr. Nikki Cristobal and part 1 of the data report was released in 2023. Some of the key take aways from the data report are more the ¼ of the missing children in Hawaii are Native Hawaiian Girls, Active Duty Military Personal were the highest perpetrators of sex solicitations from Native Hawaiian Girls and Hawaii has the 8^th highest missing person rate per-capita. (Cristobal, 2022)

In Hawaii county, there were 182 cases of missing Kanaka Maoli girls from the year 2018-2021 that was reported to Hawaii Police Department. This is higher than any other nationality. The MMNHWGM movement seeks to collect data to inform and create policy that adds protective factors over Native Hawaiian Women, Girls and Mahu. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month, I attended a webinar called “Domestic Violence, Exploitation and the MMNHWGM Movement” which was hosted by Dr. Nikki Cristobal the Executive Director of Kamawaelualani and Victoria Roland, who is the Statewide Program Administrator for the Trafficking Victim Assistance Program. They discussed the severity of sex trafficking in the state of Hawaii and how the layers of colonization and racism and lack of representation has effected the data collecting and recovery efforts.

While part 2 of the MMNHWGM data report has not been released, we can still stand in solidarity with victims and survivors of trafficking and violence. We can raise awareness and educate those around us of this invisible crisis. We can keep up to date about the missing children in our community. We can keep our eyes open, see something, say something. Lahui, we will not stop until our Kanaka oiwi are returned home. #NOMORESTOLENSISTERS. 

Works Cited

Cristobal, N. (2022). Holoi a nalo Wahine Oiwi: Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls Task Force Report (Part 1). Honolulu, Hawaii: Office of Hawiian Affairs; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women.

https://www.oha.org/wp-content/uploads/MMNHWG-Report-Web.pdf

Missing children in Hawaii

So, What Is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence does not discriminate. It knows no race, gender, creed, religion, age, financial status, or sexual orientation. While domestic violence is universally condemned, it is universally practiced and has devastating consequences to all involved and surrounding peoples. Domestic violence is defined as violence committed by someone in the person’s domestic circle. This could be a partner, spouse, sibling, child or parent, however for the context of this blog, we will be focusing on Intimate Partner Violence. IPV and domestic violence are often used interchangeably and refer to violence between 2 parties that at one point were romantically involved. Domestic violence includes, but is not limited to, physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and financial abuse. (Kunasagran, et al., 2024)

“Why don’t they just leave?”

Literally, this is quite possibly the million dollar question, but also extremely unhelpful and not Trauma Informed. Domestic Violence is complicated, it involves feelings, people, survival, love and shame. What can you do when someone discloses they are experiencing Domestic Violence? 3 words, listen, believe, empathize. Most survivors have been isolated and conditioned to remain silent, it’s important to encourage and empower them to use their voice. You can also create a safety plan with them by asking them questions about how they can keep themselves and their family safe. Encourage them to look into resources in your community that can assist them in an emergency should they need it. Most importantly, believe them! Understand that for most survivors, it’s painful to admit the person they love the most in the world is abusing and hurting them. When you believe survivors, it’s the beginning of their healing journey.

Events throughout the Month of October 2024

Domestic Violence, Exploitation, & the MMNHWGM Movement- Webinar on October 15th at 10:30

Puna Sign Waving- In front of Keaau High School 4:30-5:30p

36th Annual Domestic Violence Vigil and Peace Walk- October 25th from 4:00p-6:00 (Hilo County Building)

“Walk a Mile” in her shoes YWCA Fundraiser event- October 26th from 7:30a-10:00a

UH Hilo Domestic Violence Awareness Month resource Fair- October 30th 10:30a-1:30p

References

Recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. (2024, October 2). Horizon Health Services. Retrieved October 11, 2024, from https://horizon-health.org/recognizing-domestic-violence-awareness-month/

National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2024). 18th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report.Washington, DC.

Kunasagran, P. D., Mokti, K., Ibrahim, M. Y., Rahim, S. S., Robinson, F., Muyou, A. J., . . . Nachia, B. A. (2024). The Global Landscape of Domestic Violence against Women during the CORVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review. Korean Journal if Family Medicine, 3-11.