STAND. COM. REP. NO. 676-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 1870

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1870 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMES AGAINST ELDERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish strict liability for crimes against elders with respect to the attendant circumstance that the victim was sixty years of age or older.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu; Honolulu Police Department; Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs; AARP Hawaiʻi; and six individuals.

Your Committee finds that Act 147, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, provided additional protections for the State's senior citizens against physical, emotional, and financial exploitation. However, further clarification to state laws related to these protections is needed. Removing the requirement that a perpetrator knew the age of the victim prior to the offense strengthens the existing laws that ensure the safety and well-being of Hawaii's kupuna.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1870, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1870, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair