STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2774

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2747

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2747, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AIRCRAFT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Director of Transportation to adopt rules that require tour aircraft operators to have aircraft liability insurance coverage not less than a certain percentage of the highest minimum similar coverage required by a United States international airport per person per incident.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Blue Hawaiian Helicopters.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Jack Harter Helicopters, Inc.

Your Committee finds that helicopter tours in Hawaii offer residents and visitors alike the opportunity to experience the State's mountains, valleys, coastlines, waterfalls, and urban skylines from a unique perspective. However, your Committee finds that because there is no existing state law establishing a minimum insurance coverage amount for tour aircraft operations within the State, some tour aircraft operators are flying without adequate insurance, shifting the financial risk to passengers in the event of an accident. Your Committee finds that it is critical to support and incentivize safety in the tour aircraft operator industry and to establish certain minimum insurance requirements.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) 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 Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2747, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2747, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

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JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair