STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1511

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 1170
                                        H.D. 2
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B.
No. 1170, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COST-RECOVERY FEES FOR
     DELINQUENT LIBRARY ACCOUNTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to allow the Board of Education
to make rules and rates and set procedures for the public library
system to recover delinquent library materials and administrative
costs in its efforts to collect delinquent accounts from patrons.

     Specifically, this bill:

     (1)  Allows a fee of up to $10 to cover the cost of
          collection;

     (2)  Requires a library patron to be mailed written notice
          demanding payment and advising that continued failure
          to pay the amount due may result in collection action
          being taken;

     (3)  Allows cost-recovery fees to include collection agency
          fees, attorneys' fees, court filing fees, and similar

 
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          fees incurred by the Hawaii state public library system
          in connection with a collection action;

     (4)  Allows the Board to impose cost-recovery fees on
          amounts due for:

          (A)  Library-sponsored seminars or workshops, including
               educational materials in various media format; and

          (B)  Research and reference materials published on
               magnetic media, CD-ROM, or other machine-readable
               form;

     (5)  Requires the Board to prescribe procedures relating to
          the charging and waiving of fees; the designation of
          items for which fees may be charged; the amount of fees
          that may be assessed and charged; the accumulated
          amount of lost library material costs, fines, or fees;
          the period of time that lost library materials costs,
          fines, or fees must remain unpaid before they are
          referred to a collection agency; and the notification
          of persons with delinquent accounts of the additional
          fees to be charged by a collection agency;

     (6)  Allows the State Librarian to waive any fee, including
          a cost-recovery fee, imposed by the Hawaii state public
          library system in cases of hardship; and

     (7)  Requires fees to be deposited into the libraries
          special fund.

     Your Committee finds that in these hard economic times, it
is important that all state agencies be especially mindful of
their expenditures.  The fees provided in this bill will help
restore the loss of moneys owed to the libraries stemming from
administrative expenses.

     However, your Committee wishes to note its concern that this
bill should not become a major revenue enhancer for the library
system nor should it be used as a vehicle to allow collection
agencies to collect fees.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
1170, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 
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                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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