STAND. COM. REP. NO. 927

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 605

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 605, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program Special Fund, into which shall be deposited all monies collected by the State Fire Council from the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Fire Council, County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety, and Kaua‘i Fire Department.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

     Under this measure, monies in the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program Special Fund would be administered and expended by the State Fire Council to defray the actual cost of activities and requirements of certification of reduced ignition propensity cigarettes.

     Your Committee finds that the establishment of the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program Special Fund is necessary for the State Fire Council to meet staffing needs for the administration of the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program.  Your Committee further finds that since the Program's implementation in 2009, approximately $390,000 in regulatory fees have been collected – monies that should be used to hire an Administrator and Assistant for the Program to perform the duties specified in this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by replacing its contents with those in S.B. No. 258, S.D. 1, which is substantively similar but does not include appropriations by the Legislature as a source of monies for deposit into the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program Special Fund.  Your Committee has amended this measure further by:

     (1)  Updating the figure representing the current amount of fees collected by the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program to date, which is $390,000;

     (2)  Clarifying that the $375 fee on manufacturers is to be paid into the Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette Program Special Fund;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 605, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 605, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair