STAND. COM. REP. NO. 873

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1577

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1577, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to make all business registration applications available online and to require all applications to contain certain contact information of the registering entity.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

 

     Your Committee finds that the internet and digital technology have forever changed the way citizens interact -- and expect to interact –- with both public and private institutions.  Digitization can benefit business-to-customer processes, such as a registration process, by improving user experiences and increasing productivity and efficiency through the elimination of tasks that would otherwise be done manually.  However, your Committee finds that while the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs may provide business registration forms on its website for the public to use and review, and are thus technically available online, your Committee believes that making all forms available online and requiring the forms to contain certain contact information of the registering entity would better serve both the Department and customers alike.

 

     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 S.B. No. 1577, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

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KARL RHOADS, Chair