STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2511

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2306

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2306 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Make permanent the authority of the Department of Land and Natural Resources to establish a transaction fee for certain services rendered by the Bureau of Conveyances for each recording in the Bureau of Conveyances and the Land Court;

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

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

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committee finds that Act 120, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, created a $5 transaction fee that was applied to all regular system recordings, allowing the Bureau of Conveyances to improve the automation and integrity of its recording process. Your Committee further finds that there is a fee discrepancy between the regular system and Land Court system, although the Office of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court provides similar recordation services to the Bureau of Conveyances. This measure statutorily establishes equitable fee assessments in both recording systems to fund further improvements to the efficiency, reliability, and automation of these systems, and modernizes policy to remove regulation involving outdated technology.

Your Committee notes the concern raised in testimony by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO, that allowing the Bureau of Conveyances to use funds to contract with qualified contractors does not support or improve the State's civil service system. Therefore, your Committee believes this measure should ensure any contracted services pursuant to this measure shall not be entered into after two years from the effective date, thereby helping to close the temporary backlog within the Bureau in the short-term and supporting the competitiveness of the civil service in the long-term.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language that limits the use of moneys in the Bureau of Conveyances Special Fund for qualified contractors to services provided under a contract entered into no later than December 31, 2028;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 Water, Land, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2306, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2306, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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CHRIS LEE, Chair