STAND. COM. REP. NO. 859

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1096

       S.D. 1

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. 1096, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ON-BILL PROGRAMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify the application of the on-bill financing law.

Specifically, the measure exempts electric utilities that are serving as a pass-through for repayments of on-bill obligations from:

     (1)  The imposition of various state and county taxes and fees; and

     (2)  Laws regulating financial institutions, escrow depositories, or collection agencies.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Hawaii Public Utilities Commission; Hawaiian Electric Company; and Blue Planet Foundation.  The Department of Taxation and Tax Foundation of Hawaii submitted written comments on this measure.

     Your Committee finds that the Public Utilities Commission has begun the development of a billing mechanism for on-bill charges and expects that it will be used to collect payments of the green infrastructure charge authorized by section 269-172, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and repayments of on-bill obligations addressed by this measure.  This measure will help to remove any potential differences in the application of taxes and fees between the two similar programs and facilitate an electric utility's role as a pass-through for repayments of on-bill obligations.

     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. 1096, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair