Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 515 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the Tobacco Enforcement Special Fund and exempt the fund from central service surcharges and the reimbursement for departmental administrative expenses. The measure also revises the distribution of the tobacco settlement monies.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Office of the Attorney General.

Your Committee realizes that, through the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement reached with the tobacco product defendants, payments are made to the State of Hawaii in perpetuity, subject to adjustments for factors such as market share loss, inflation, and volume loss. To date, the State has received approximately sixty million dollars from this settlement and anticipates yearly payments ranging in amounts between thirty five million and sixty million dollars. However, your Committee realizes that to ensure that the State of Hawaii is receiving all the moneys that it is entitled to under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco manufacturers, proper enforcement is needed, which is what this measure would allow. Thus, your Committee has decided to pass this measure unamended.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 515 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.