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2026 Hawaiʻi State Legislature: SFCA supports measures being heard on Monday, March 16

March 12, 2026
View of the sky through roof of Hawaii State Capitol building.

The Hawaiʻi State Legislature is accepting written, videoconference, and in-person testimony at upcoming hearings for measures affecting the arts in Hawaiʻi. The SFCA supports these bills.

Important Dates

  • Written testimony is due by SUNDAY, March 15, 12:59 p.m.
  • Hearing is MONDAY, March 16, 1:00 p.m.

Hearing

Hearing on Monday, March 16, 2026. 1:00 p.m. in Conference Room 224 and Videoconference live streamed on YouTube.

Arts and culture measures in this hearing

  • HB 1860, HD2 Relating to the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Designates the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra has been advocating for this bill, which would designate it as the State of Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and provide it with public funding. In earlier testimony, SFCA Executive Director Karen Ewald says “Public funding plays a crucial role in sustaining and enriching music performances, especially in ways that the private market often cannot. Music performances generate local employment, attract tourism, and contribute to lively public spaces. Beyond economics, they foster social cohesion by bringing people together, encouraging shared experiences, and strengthening community identity.”
  • HB 1815, HD1 Relating to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Explicitly applies existing grant standards to Performing Arts Grants Program grants under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. This measure speeds up the timeline for SFCA to distribute $600,000 in performing arts grants. In 2025, the Legislature funded $600,000 for performing arts grants opportunities for Hawaiʻi, to be channeled through the SFCA. A technical change needs to happen through a measure in order for the SFCA to be able to distribute the funds responsibly, transparently, and in alignment with the SFCA’s public purpose. It establishes eligibility standards for applicants, sets conditions that grant recipients must follow, and requires that all grant proposals be formally reviewed based on factors such as community need, program quality, and the applicant’s ability to carry out the project. The Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance testified at the February 26 hearing that “The beauty of this measure is that while Act 131 established a new Performing Arts Grants Program, new programs often take many months – or even a year – to fully launch due to the administrative procedures and rules that must be developed. By explicitly applying existing grant standards to the Performing Arts Grants Program under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, this bill significantly shortens that timeline, allowing funding to reach performing artists and performing arts organizations much more quickly.”
  • HB 2117, HD 2 Relating to the Arts. Establishes the Mapping of Arts Data for Education Task Force to conduct a study and develop a comprehensive, publicly available statewide database and geographic information systems map of arts entities and programs engaged in arts and arts education. This would help create a map of arts data for education, showing where programs are in schools (and where they are not). Randy Wong, President and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony, says “In the text of the bill, it lists all the different types of organizations that we’re seeking information from, and it’s great to have heard that both the Department of Education and the head of the Hawaii State Public Charter Schools Commission, and also the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools are all on board. Having such great momentum from many school systems and stakeholders is so exciting.”

Learn more about these measures from the Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance

Hawaiʻi Art Alliance, a nonprofit arts advocacy organization, has a recording and slide deck from the most recent Community Chat discussing these measures.

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