STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3222

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1902

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Clarify that the Governor's and mayors' emergency management powers shall be consistent with the Hawaii State Constitution;

(2) Clarify the scope of the comprehensive emergency management plan;

(3) Clarify the powers of the Governor and mayors to extend or terminate a state of emergency; and

(4) Shorten the duration of price control periods from ninety-six hours to seventy-two hours.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; NAIOP Hawaii; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Hawaii Food Industry Association; Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association; and fifty-eight individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from ten individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Lāhainā Strong, and thirty-nine individuals.

Your Committees find that it is necessary for all parties on the federal, state, county, and non-governmental levels to develop a proper framework of duties and responsibilities to prepare, mitigate and recover from catastrophic events. Your Committees further find that Hawaii's emergency response plans need further development, particularly regarding the roles of the Governor and mayors. This measure will help integrate a matrix of responsibilities into an emergency management program.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that any proclamation of a state of emergency that fails to state a time at which it will take effect shall take effect at noon of the day on which it takes effect;

(2) Adding a new part to insert the contents of section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2904, S.D. 2 (2024), which amends emergency management law to protect tenants, mortgagors, consumers, and residents for certain periods of time after the issuance of a gubernatorial or mayoral emergency proclamation; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair