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would reside in a household together, in line with the idea of what is typically considered the nuclear family. The Board, having deliberated and considered and giving appropriate weight to the testimony and information provided, hereby renders the following opinion: The Board's Opinion The Board is in support of Bill 21, but would request the following friendly amendments and considerations: 1) In reference to the definition of "immediate family member" as it appears in Bill 21, that the phrase "relations through adoption, foster care, and the Hawaiian custom of hanai" be amended to read as follows: "relations through adep4ien, foster eaFe, and the Hawaiian eustem of ha formal and informal adoptive practices" The Board reasoned that the singling out of the "Hawaiian custom of hanai" could be seen as discriminatory rather than the intention of inclusion, because the term i) singles out one cultural group, and ii) rejects informal adoptive practices by other customs. The Board would rather have a more inclusive definition of adoptive relationship to include other forms of informal adoptive practices. 2) In reference to the definition of "immediate family member" as it appears in Bill 21. the Board requested that the extension of the term to include the "third degree of consanguinity" to include "first cousin, second cousin" be removed. The Board found that the inclusion of "third degree of consanguinity'" was not consistent with the commonly understood definition of"immediate family member." The Board instead offered the following suggested friendly amendment, that the definition for "immediate family member" in Bill 21 be replaced with the State's offered definition of "relative" as it appears in HRS § 84-13.2 with the exception that the language relating to Hawaiian hanai custom be removed and instead insert the preferred language "relation through formal and informal adoptive practices." Sincerely, Rachel Short Chair, Hawai'i County Board of Ethics