STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1107

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 293

       H.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 293, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LIQUOR LICENSES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the County Liquor Commissions to accept a certificate of vendor compliance from the State Procurement Office's Hawaii Compliance Express system as evidence that a liquor applicant does not owe any delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Liquor Commission of the City and County of Honolulu and Department of Liquor Control of the County of Kauai.

     Your Committees find that the current process of applying for a new liquor license or the transfer or renewal of an existing license requires that an applicant produce a signed certificate from the Department of Taxation and the Internal Revenue Service showing that the applicant does not owe the State or federal government any delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest.  Compliance with this requirement can be difficult and cumbersome and can delay the issuance or renewal of a liquor license.  Implementation of this measure will reduce delays in the issuance or renewal of liquor licenses and streamline the license application and renewal process.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 293, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair