STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2309

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2611

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2611 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VITAL STATISTICS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to assist the county real property assessment divisions to correctly impose the real property tax exemption by requiring the Department of Health to provide each county's real property assessment division with copies of the monthly list of death records currently provided to the county clerks offices.  This measure ensures that no fee will be charged to either the county clerks or the county real property assessment division for this information. 

     In addition to the name of the deceased, this measure requires the Department of Health to provide, if available, the last four digits of the deceased's social security number, the deceased's date of birth, date of death, and last known address.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the County of Hawaii.  Your Committees received testimony in support of the intent of this measure with amendments from the County of Kauai and the County of Maui.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Health.  Comments were received from the Office of the City Clerk.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committees find that receiving a list of death certificates in a timely manner enables the counties to keep their databases updated.  Your Committees further find that when the counties rely on out of date information the hardship falls on taxpayers who will then have to pay recalculated taxes or may have tax liens and penalties due from taxes being sent to a deceased person's address.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Allowing the counties to request full social security numbers of deceased people when the basic information provided matches more than one person in the county clerk's or county real property assessment division's database; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion of this measure.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2611, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2611, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs,

____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair