STAND. COM. REP. NO. 292

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 343

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 Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 343 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VETERANS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Exempt qualifying totally and permanently disabled veterans from paying the state motor vehicle registration fee for registrations occurring on or after September 1, 2015; and

     (2)  Require the Director of the Office of Veterans Services, in consultation with the Policy Advisory Board on Veterans Services, to report to the Legislature and Department of Taxation the total number of disabled veterans that qualify for the exemption from the annual motor vehicle registration fees.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Office of Veterans Services, Veterans Advisory Board, and one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation and Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

     Your Committees find that disabled veterans deserve to be rewarded for their sacrifices in the name of duty, honor, and country.  The exemption provided by this measure would be a small recognition of those veterans who incurred military-related injuries and are now rated as one hundred percent disabled.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 343 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 Transportation,

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair