Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2726 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to assist the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs in reviewing cemetery and pre-need funeral authority license applications and in other regulatory matters.

Specifically, this bill authorizes the Department to hire consultants, including attorneys, auditors, accountants, investigators, examiners, and other professional, technical and support personnel, to engage in pre-licensing and other post-licensing matters in order to adequately protect the interests of consumers. The costs of hiring a consultant are to be paid by the licensee whose application or activities require the retention of the consultant.

Your Committee finds that the cemetery and pre-need funeral industry has grown to include multi-million dollar corporate operations. As the industry has expanded and become more complex, it has become necessary for regulatory authorities to have certain expertise and skills to provide effective industry oversight.

It is your Committee's intent that the private consultants hired by the Department be independent from the cemetery and pre-need funeral industry.

Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by making several technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purpose of clarity and style, including the insertion of the phrase "for cemetery or pre-need funeral authority license" to describe the type of application in section 441-  (b)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, on page 2, line 1 of the bill.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2726, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2726, S.D. 1.