STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 992-26
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2026
RE: H.B. No. 1642
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1642, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee
received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs; Hawaiʻi
Family Caregiver Coalition; AARP Hawaiʻi;
and numerous individuals. Your Committee
received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hilt Ventures, LLC.
Your Committee finds that digital financial
asset transaction kiosks have increasingly been used to facilitate scam
payments, causing significant financial harm to residents due to the ease of scammers
directing victims to deposit cash into kiosks that transfer funds to fraudulent
digital wallets. Your Committee further
finds that the rapid escalation of fraud losses, combined with the inability to
recover funds once transferred, poses an ongoing threat to the financial safety
of consumers, particularly kupuna and other vulnerable groups. Your Committee believes that prohibiting
kiosks from accepting cash for digital asset purchases will substantially
reduce the most prevalent avenue for scam payments and help safeguard consumers
from financial exploitation.
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. 1642, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,
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____________________________ DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair |
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