STAND. COM. REP. NO. 462-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2544

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 Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 2544 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADMINISTRATIVE FEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Make permanent, rather than repealing upon the adoption of relevant administrative rules, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' authority to establish a transaction fee for certain services rendered by the Bureau of Conveyances for each recording in the Bureau of Conveyances and Land Court;

(2) Amend the authorized uses of monies in the Bureau of Conveyances Special Fund; and

(3) Repeal provisions that required the Bureau of Conveyances' microfilm fees to be established by rules.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committee finds that the Bureau of Conveyances performs highly specialized and critical functions that ensure the integrity, reliability, and accessibility of Hawaii's land title records under the Regular System and the Land Court System. Although the work required to process recordings in both systems is similar, existing law has resulted in a discrepancy in how fees are assessed. Your Committee further finds that this measure addresses that inequity by establishing a consistent transaction fee structure across the two systems.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

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

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to review the issue of adjusting the pricing of the positions needed in the Bureau of Conveyances.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2544, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2544, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair