Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 477 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide greater protection to an individual's retirement moneys by:

There was no written testimony. Oral comments were heard from the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and an interested citizen.

Your Committees find that both regular IRAs and Roth IRAs are sound financial vehicles for retirement planning, but only regular IRAs are protected against creditor claims. This bill will remedy this disparity.

Your Committees heard concerns that the public may not have had notice of the provisions of this bill that decrease the retirement contributions that may be reached by a bankruptcy debtor's creditors. Accordingly, your Committees have amended this bill by providing an effective date of July 1, 2099, in the interest of allowing further examination of, and dialogue on the merits of this bill.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 477, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 477, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.