Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 2143, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to protect gift certificate consumers by:

Your Committee heard testimony in support of this bill from a consumer. The Department of Budget and Finance (B&F) supported the bill in part, and opposed the bill in part. The Retail Merchants of Hawaii submitted concerns. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs commented.

B&F opposed relieving merchants of their responsibility under the UPA but in response to questioning was unable to provide information on the extent of gift certificate issuer compliance with the UPA. B&F was also uncertain as to how they would respond where a consumer asked for the face value of an expired certificate, but the merchant had not reported it as unclaimed property. As this information is relevant to the question of whether the current system truly protects the interests of consumers, a letter asking for a more formal response will be sent to B&F. Should Senators raise these same issues, it is hoped that the answers will be more complete.

Your Committee has been advised that DCCA has an ongoing dialogue with the Hawaii Retail Merchants Association (HRMA) regarding the bill and HRMA's many concerns. The hope was expressed that they would reach an understanding satisfactory to all concerned participants.

Your Committee appreciates the effort that is being made by the participants in the ongoing dialogue. To keep that dialogue going, while reflecting that the current version of the bill is likely to require substantial amendment at some later date, the effective date of the bill has been changed to July 1, 2099. No other substantive changes were made to the bill, to avoid reducing the number or permutations or combinations available to the participants in the ongoing dialogue.

Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for consistency and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2143, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2143, H.D. 2, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.