STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1008-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: S.B. No. 2840
S.D. 2
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2840, S.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TOBACCO,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to deter distribution of untaxed cigarettes via telephone, mail order, or the Internet by:
(1) Creating a new offense of unlawful shipment of cigarettes;
(2) Refining definitions of "ship", "dealer", "distribute", and "sale" to eliminate loopholes in existing law; and
(3) Clarifying the seizure and confiscation powers of the Department of the Attorney General.
Delivery services that are not complicit in evading taxes are not subject to the penalties provided by this measure.
The Department of Health, American Heart Association, American Lung Association of Hawaii, Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, and Phillip Morris USA, Inc., testified in support of this measure. The Attorney General testified in support and suggested a technical change.
Your Committee believes this approach will compel out-of-state Internet, mail order, and telephone vendors to comply with Hawaii's tobacco tax laws, and will reduce availability of low-priced cigarettes to underage smokers.
Your Committee also believes that capping the amount of a supersedeas bond that a court may require a Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) signatory, successor, or affiliate to post pending appeal is worthy of continued discussion. In its Standing Committee Report No. 562-04 on H.B. No. 2715 H.D. 1, the Committee on Finance stated that the Attorney General recommended raising the bond limit to $150,000,000 if the Legislature is inclined to pass this measure.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Designating the existing provisions of this bill, "Part I;"
(2) Replacing a reference to "title 14 of the United States Code" in proposed new section 245- (g) with the correct reference: title 14, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(3) Inserting as Part II, the provisions of H.B. No 2715, H.D. 1, relating to tobacco settlement;
(4) Increasing the amount of the supersedeas bond cap from $100,000,000 to $150,000,000; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive revisions for clarity and style.
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 S.B. No. 2840, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2840,
S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
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