STAND. COM. REP. NO.109
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 948
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns, to which was referred H.B. No. 948 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SMALL BUSINESS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to assist small businesses in the State by:
(1) Making permanent the law enacting the Hawaii Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act and the small business defender;
(2) Transferring the small business defender position from the Legislature to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) and providing staff support;
(3) Allowing the small business defender to hire attorneys under section 28-8.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
(4) Appropriating funds to DBEDT to establish the Office of the Small Business Defender.
The Small Business Regulatory Review Board (SBRRB), a SBRRB member, and the National Federation of Independent Business testified in support of the measure. DBEDT and the Hawaii Business League submitted testimony in opposition of the measure.
Your Committee noted that when the small business defender position was initially conceived, there was lengthy public discussion as to where the position should be placed. At the time, the Small Business Task Force on Regulatory Relief and others in the business industry felt that the small business defender position would be best placed within the Legislature because this was an entity where the small business defender would truly act in an independent manner, similar to that of the Legislative Auditor and the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Retaining the small business defender position within the Legislature, rather than transferring the position to DBEDT for administrative purposes;
(2) Deleting provisions relating to the salary, employment benefits, and staff assistance specifications with regard to the small business defender position;
(3) Appropriating $1 to establish the Office of the Small Business Defender within the Legislature, rather than DBEDT, and designating the Legislature as the expending agency; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.
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. 948, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 948, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns,
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____________________________ LEI AHU ISA, Chair |
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