STAND. COM. REP. NO. 844-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: H.B. No. 2199

H.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2199, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit binding the State to government procurement rules contained in certain international trade agreements without legislative action.

The Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO, and Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch testified in support of this bill.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Limiting the international trade agreements to which this law would apply to those agreements relating to procurement that allow the State to consent;

(2) Making the application of this law retroactive;

(3) Limiting the definition of "international trade agreement" to also exclude any memoranda of agreement between any of the counties and any foreign country or any foreign country's sub-national entity to which the United States is not a party;

(4) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2096, to encourage further discussion;

(5) Adding a findings and purpose section; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

Your Committee notes that it intends to determine what trade agreements would be affected by making this bill retroactive in application, in consultation with the Attorney General. However, in the mean time, your Committee wishes to move this bill along for further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2199, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2199, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair