STAND. COM. REP. 710

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 135

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 135 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL MATCHMAKING ORGANIZATIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of the bill is to allow persons living abroad who use for-profit matchmaking services to access criminal convictions and marital history information about prospective spouses residing in the United States.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Na Loio Immigrant Rights and Public Interest Legal Center, Globalization Research Center, and concerned individuals testified in support of this bill. The Mestizo Association also supported this measure with amendments. The Department of the Attorney General offered comments.

Your Committee finds that this measure would provide important protection to foreign residents by providing background information to potential matches from overseas. This measure will provide information to aid in decisions.

 

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Deleting the provision that exempted traditional matchmaking organizations of a religious nature from the definition of an "international matchmaking organization";

(2) Clarifying that the criminal record and marital history information be displayed in a conspicuous manner rather than a highly noticeable manner;

(3) Requiring the Hawaii resident to submit to the matchmaking organization the complete transcript of any criminal history record or a statement that there is no record of convictions obtained from the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center based on a submission of fingerprint impressions and sent directly to the organization by the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center;

(4) Deleting the requirement that the appropriate criminal history record information be disseminated to the international matchmaking organization since this information is public record; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style and clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 135, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 135, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

____________________________

ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair