STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2555

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2785

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2785 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to increase the maximum amount in controversy over which the District Court shall have jurisdiction from $20,000 to $30,000.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Collection Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association and two attorneys.

     Your Committee finds that the current limit for claims in the District Courts was established by the Legislature in 1994.  An increase in the jurisdictional limit of the District Courts would take into account the effect of inflation over the years, yet would also allow smaller claims, those under $30,000, to be resolved in a cost effective manner.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to "January 1, 2050" to facilitate further discussion on this issue.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2785, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2785, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair