STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2598

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2111

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2111 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Under certain conditions, limit the payment of any delinquent tax and penalty required by the Director of Finance of a county as a condition precedent to the transfer of ownership of a vehicle to the aggregate amount of delinquent taxes and penalties accumulated by the previous registered owner over the preceding five-year period;

(2) Establish a fine of not more than $5,000 for a person that transfers ownership of a vehicle and thereafter reobtains ownership by subsequent transfer for the primary purpose of evading delinquent taxes and penalties; and

(3) Require the respective counties to amend any applicable ordinances.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from three individuals.

Your Committee finds that some car owners fail to pay delinquent taxes and penalties on vehicles that remain unused for years or even decades. Existing law requires that the person who re-registers a vehicle is required to pay the delinquent taxes and penalties, which shifts the burden to the person purchasing the used vehicle. This measure will help the purchasers of used vehicles by limiting the payment of delinquent taxes and penalties accumulated by the previous owner to the preceding five-year period.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2111, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2111, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair