THE SENATE

KA AHA KENEKOA

 

THE THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2026

 

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

Senator Jarrett Keohokalole, Chair

Senator Carol Fukunaga, Vice Chair

 

NOTICE OF HEARING

 

 

DATE:

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

TIME:

9:31 AM

PLACE:

Conference Room 229 & Videoconference

State Capitol

415 South Beretania Street

 

 

PHOTO ID REQUIRED FOR ENTRANCE TO THE STATE CAPITOL

BUILDING HOURS: 7AM TO 5PM, MONDAY - FRIDAY

 

The Legislature is accepting written, videoconference, and in-person testimony at public hearings.

A live stream of all Senate Standing Committee meetings will be available on the Senate YouTube Channel.

 

 

A G E N D A

 

SB 2436

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO CHARITABLE SOLICITATION.

Requires professional solicitors operating public collection receptacles to solicit donations of non-perishable tangible property who later re-sell the items to deposit funds with charitable organizations within a specified timeframe, provide certain information in financial reports, and prominently disclose certain information on collection receptacles.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2471

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE POWERS OF ARTIFICIAL PERSONS.

Reaffirms that artificial persons created under state law possess only those powers that are necessary or convenient to carry out lawful business and charitable or organizational purposes, and that those powers do not include the power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures.  Revokes all prior grants of corporate and entity powers and regrants only those powers that the State determines to be necessary or convenient to conduct lawful business under the constitution and laws of this State.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2829

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE POWERS OF ARTIFICIAL PERSONS.

Makes any state-chartered corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, cooperative, nonprofit, or other association lack the legal capacity to make expenditures or contributions in connection with elections or ballot measures.  Deems any election or ballot measure expenditure or contribution to be ultra vires or void as a matter of law, triggering administrative forfeiture of charter privileges, including limited liability and perpetual duration, until reinstatement.  Effective 1/1/2027.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2495

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION.

Clarifies that the Office of Consumer Protection within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs may use its authority to enforce laws and bring civil actions with regard to disputes arising under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code.

 

CPN, JDC/WAM

SB 2347

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD-TENANT CODE.

Requires the Office of Consumer Protection to periodically publish an accessible, multilingual notice of tenant rights.  Requires a landlord to provide a tenant with a copy of the notice of tenant rights.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2771

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO LICENSING.

Removes the barrier requiring applicants for professional or vocational licensing to be United States citizens, United States nationals, or persons with work visas.  Allows applicants to provide individual tax identification numbers in lieu of social security numbers if all other requirements are met.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2806

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO REAL ESTATE.

Prohibits real estate brokers from listing or offering the sale or lease of residential real estate to a limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers, real estate brokers, or real estate salespersons, with limited exceptions.  Deems the practice an unfair or deceptive trade or practice subject to penalties and grounds for discipline.

 

CPN, JDC

SB 2777

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO INSURANCE.

Requires property insurers to disclose to the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs certain information regarding payment of claims for the prior year.  Requires the Insurance Division to retain and make the information publicly available.  Establishes penalties.

 

CPN, WAM

 

 

 

 

Decision Making to follow, if time permits.

 

All testimony received by the Hawai‘i Senate is posted on the Hawai‘i Legislature's website, which is accessible to the public. Please do not include private information that you do not want disclosed to the public.

 

Please go to the Legislature's website, https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov, to submit written testimony at least 48 hours prior to the hearing. Create a free account on the website, or sign in to an existing account, then click on the "Participate" drop down menu and select the "Submit Testimony" option to get started. While submitting your written testimony, you will be prompted to indicate if you would also like to testify at the hearing in-person or remotely via videoconference.

 

Please note the following:

 

·         The number of oral testifiers and/or time allotted to each testifier may be limited by the Chair when necessary to adhere to the committee hearing schedule. We may not be able to accommodate everyone who requests to testify orally.

·         Testifiers for this hearing will be limited to 2 minutes each.

 

If you wish to testify via videoconference during the hearing, please review the detailed step-by-step instructions for testimony procedures before you submit your written testimony. Here's a direct link to the instructions: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/docs/testimonyinstructions.pdf

 

For general help navigating the committee hearing process, please contact the Public Access Room at (808) 587-0478 or par@capitol.hawaii.gov. You can also visit their website at https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/.

 

For special assistance: The cable TV broadcast and/or live stream of this meeting will include closed captioning. If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to a disability, please call the committee clerk at the telephone number listed below or email CPNcommittee@capitol.hawaii.gov. Requests made as early as possible have a greater likelihood of being fulfilled.

 

For amended notices: Measures that have been deleted are stricken through and measures that have been added are underscored.  If a measure is both underscored and stricken through, that measure has been deleted from the agenda.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL THE COMMITTEE CLERK AT 808-587-7215.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________

Senator Jarrett Keohokalole

Chair