HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 5865

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

As Passed House:

April 17, 2019

Title: An act relating to declaring October as Filipino American history month.

Brief Description: Declaring October as Filipino American history month.

Sponsors: Senators Hasegawa, Nguyen, Conway, Dhingra, Schoesler, Billig, Honeyford, King, Randall, Saldaña and Wilson, C.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

State Government & Tribal Relations: 3/20/19, 3/27/19 [DP].

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 4/17/19, 98-0.

Brief Summary of Bill

  • Declares October of each year to be Filipino American History Month.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT & TRIBAL RELATIONS

Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 9 members: Representatives Gregerson, Chair; Pellicciotti, Vice Chair; Walsh, Ranking Minority Member; Goehner, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Appleton, Dolan, Hudgins, Mosbrucker and Smith.

Staff: Jason Zolle (786-7124).

Background:

In 1991 the Filipino American National Historical Society (Society) proposed the first Filipino American History Month to be celebrated in October 1992. The Society chose October because historians had concluded that October 18, 1587, was the earliest documented proof of Filipino presence in the continental United States.

One or both houses of the Legislature has passed annual resolutions in each year since 2010 to celebrate the anniversary of Filipino presence in the United States in October or to particularly recognize Filipino veterans.

As of the 2010 census, Washington is home to the fifth-largest Filipino population in the United States, and Filipino Americans are the largest Asian Pacific American population in the state. The census documented 137,083 people of Filipino descent alone or in any combination living in Washington.

In 2000 Washington declared May of each year to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Summary of Bill:

The state declares that October of each year is Filipino American History Month.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) The Legislature has recognized Filipino American History Month for years in an annual resolution.  This bill will institutionalize that practice and continue that tradition indefinitely.  Filipino Americans have been in the United States for 432 years—their history is all of our history.  There is no cost to this bill, but it ignites our Filipino community, educators, and anyone else to study that history.

(Opposed) None.

Persons Testifying: Senator Hasegawa, prime sponsor; Reynaldo Pascua, Filipino American Community of the Yakima Valley, Inc.; Bong Santo Domingo and Sheila Burrus, Filipino Community of Seattle; Pio DeCano and Dorothy Cordova, Filipino American National Historical Society; Maria Batayola, Pinoy Words Expressed Kultura Arts; Thelma Sevilla, Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, Bataan, Corregidor Survivors Association, and Filipino American National Historical Society; Allen Acosta; and Patricia Whitefoot.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.