STAND. COM. REP. NO. 745
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 584
H.D. 1
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. 584 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to clarify Hawaii's charitable gift annuities law, which was amended in 2004 to allow smaller, "grassroots" nonprofits to issue gift annuities. This bill seeks to resolve ambiguities in the law by specifying that:
(1) To issue gift annuities, a charity must have provided program services or conducted fundraising activities in Hawaii for at least 10 consecutive years, instead of "continuously" for that time period;
(2) Charities must by March 15 annually file a statement with the Department of the Attorney General (AG) certifying their compliance with the requirements of the law;
(3) Reserves on outstanding gift annuities are to be calculated based on mortality tables and discount rates determined by the Insurance Commissioner; and
(4) No surplus is required in a charity's reserves for any portion of an annuity risk that is reinsured by an authorized insurer.
Testimony in support of this bill was received from the AG, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Nature Conservancy, and Punahou School.
Your Committees find that non-profit organizations, donors, prospective donors, and enforcement agencies have uncertainties about how to comply with the charitable gift annuities law enacted in 2004. This bill would dispel those uncertainties.
Your Committees have amended this bill by providing an effective date of July 1, 2099, in the interest of promoting additional dialogue on concerns raised during the public hearing. Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
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. 584, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 584, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary,
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____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE, Chair |
____________________________ KENNETH HIRAKI, Chair |
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