STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2476

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3261

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Economic Development and Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 3261 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ATHLETE AGENTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit any person from providing advisory, negotiation, or procurement assistance to or on behalf of a student athlete relating to certain activities, without being a registered athlete agent in the State and having a valid agency contract executed in compliance with applicable law.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Athletics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.

Your Committees find that the recent influx of revenue into collegiate athletics caused by new rules allowing funding for the use of a student athlete's name, image, and likeness (NIL) has compelled many student athletes to seek professional advice and legal representation. While the State's existing law regulating the conduct and certification process for athlete agents offers robust protections, it does not account for activities relating to NIL contracts. This measure will protect student athletes by safeguarding ethical professional representation among agent athletes.

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Economic Development and Tourism that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3261, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3261, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Economic Development and Tourism,

________________________________ LYNN DECOITE, Chair

________________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair