STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2842

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2409

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2409 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to enforce certain federal laws that protect military members and their families from abusive lending practices.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, the Office of Consumer Protection, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and Oahu Veterans Council.

     Your Committee believes that service members and their families may be particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous lenders who may charge excessive fees and interest rates, make loans without regard to the borrower's ability to repay, refinance a borrower's loans repeatedly over a short period of time without any gain for the borrower, and who may commit outright fraud or deception.  This measure allows the Office of Consumer Protection to enforce certain federal laws that protect military members from predatory and unscrupulous lending practices that appear to target military personnel.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by amending references to the Military Sentinel program or data-base to the Military Sentinel Network maintained by the Federal Trade Commission, which is the reference used by the Office of Consumer Protection in testimony.

     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. 2409, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2409, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair