STAND. COM. REP. NO. 211-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 2020
                                     




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Economic Development and Business
Concerns, to which was referred H.B. No. 2020 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OBSOLETE LAWS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to repeal or make conforming
amendments to various laws that have either been repealed by
implication, or by their own terms by operation of law, and are
now deemed to be "functus".

     The term "functus" generally refers to laws that have
accomplished their intended purpose and are of no further force
or effect.  Informational testimony was received from the
Legislative Reference Bureau.  This bill was prepared by the
Bureau and submitted pursuant to sections 23G-3(10) and
23G-12(5), Hawaii Revised Statutes, which require the Bureau to
engage in the function of revising the statutes of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that several laws in the Hawaii Revised
Statutes and the Session Laws of Hawaii may now be deemed to be
obsolete, or functus, in that they have accomplished their
intended purpose and are now of no further force or effect.  Your
Committee further finds that these sections are repealed by
operation of law but are nevertheless considered to be "on the
books" because the acts that enacted them were not themselves
repealed.  Other types of obsolete laws that may continue to be
on the books are laws that have been repealed by implication in
an appellate court decision.

 
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                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 211-00
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     Your Committee agrees with the intent of this bill, which
seeks to reduce the number of obsolete laws.  One reason for
doing so is that a statute that remains in the printed text of
the Hawaii Revised Statutes from year to year but which has been
repealed by operation of law or by implication unnecessarily
increases the size of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, thereby adding
to production costs, as well as wasting the time of researchers
who search for and locate statutes that are "dead" on their face,
unusable by anyone.  Moreover, the retention of such a statute
may also create some confusion that the law, while repealed, is
still retained "on the books".  Your Committee finds that
repealing or amending these sections, as appropriate, assists in
the removal of obsolete laws and helps to clarify which laws are
of continuing force and effect.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns that is
attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the
intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2020 and recommends that it pass
Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Economic
                                   Development and Business
                                   Concerns,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ROBERT N. HERKES, Chair

 
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