STAND. COM. REP. NO. 842

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 193

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 193, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENHANCED 911 SURCHARGES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish an E911 surcharge on each retail transaction of a prepaid wireless telecommunications service, similar to the enhanced 911 surcharge imposed on postpaid wireless communication services.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the County of Hawaii Police Department, Honolulu Police Department, CTIA-The Wireless Association, and Verizon.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation and the Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that despite having access to 911 services, the enhanced 911 surcharge is not imposed on prepaid wireless telecommunications plans.  Your Committee further finds that this measure will allow Hawaii to join the other thirty-five states and the District of Columbia that have adopted legislation establishing fair and equitable charges for funding the 911 emergency system.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language suggesting that the surcharge need not be separately listed on the consumer's receipt if the surcharge is otherwise disclosed to the consumer; and

 

     (2)  Deleting the requirement that the amount of the surcharge be separately stated on an invoice or receipt provided to the consumer in order to be excluded from state taxes and 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 S.B. No. 193, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 193, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair