STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3509

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 29

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 Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.R. No. 29 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE MATTRESS STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM DESIGN WORKING GROUP TO STUDY, EVALUATE, AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A STATEWIDE MATTRESS STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the Joint Legislative Mattress Stewardship Program Design Working Group to study, evaluate, and make recommendations on the structure and implementation of a statewide Mattress Stewardship Program.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health and two individuals.

Your Committees find that discarded mattresses and box springs present unique environmental challenges due to their size, material composition, and low recycling rates, contributing to landfill capacity strain, illegal dumping, fire risk, and increased solid waste management costs. Your Committees further find that a mattress stewardship framework grounded in extended producer responsibility can support expanded collection, reuse, recycling, and responsible end-of-life management, while distributing program costs equitably among producers, retailers, consumers, and the government. This measure provides a practical mechanism for developing detailed recommendations for a statewide Mattress Stewardship Program prior to statutory implementation.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the term "joint legislative" throughout the measure, to clarify that the Department of Health shall take the lead in convening and administering the Mattress Stewardship Program Design Working Group;

(2) Amending its title accordingly; and

(3) 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 Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 29, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 29, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair