HI SCR117

Nominates former Governor John D. Waiheeʻe III for induction into the Aloha Order of Merit, Hawaii's state honor established in 1993 under section 5-7.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Waiheeʻe served as Hawaii's fourth Governor from 1986 to 1994 and was the first Native Hawaiian elected governor of any U.S. state.

Key accomplishments include serving as a delegate to the 1978 Constitutional Convention (which established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and recognized Hawaiian as an official state language), chairing the Democratic Governors Association in 1992, and implementing the QUEST Medicaid managed care program.

Waiheeʻe's work with the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission helped lay groundwork for the 1993 federal Apology Resolution (Public Law 103-150).

He continues public service as Chair of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center and through civic engagement on energy policy and other state issues.