STAND. COM. REP. NO.340

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: H.B. No. 600

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 600 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESS REGISTRATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to update Hawaii's business registration statutes.

Your Committee finds present business registration laws do not reflect modern business practices, and impose unnecessary burdens on registrants.

It is in the State's best interests to enact legislation that helps Hawaii's business registration laws work as well as possible. Hawaii's current business registration laws contain errors and ambiguities due to changes in common law and drafting errors. This bill supports the development of our local economy by providing local and out-of-state businesses with correct and unambiguous business laws. It will make business registration easier for the public.

The bill also reduces certain document filing fees to make them uniform and consistent for each type of business entity registered by the department of commerce and consumer affairs. This provides equity for consumers and ease in administration for the department.

This bill:

(1) Updates Hawaii's business registration statutes to reflect modern business practices;

(2) Makes it more desirable for new and existing businesses to form or locate in the State; and

(3) Clarifies and corrects ambiguities and errors in Hawaii's business registration statutes.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Your Committee has amended this bill by correcting the numbering on page 15, line 20. Your Committee has further amended this bill by making a correction to indicate that section 414-332(i) is a new provision, and not one already in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

This bill has also been amended by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style, clarity, and consistency, including striking through all of the bracketed material.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 600, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 600, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair