STAND. COM. REP. NO. 515

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 357

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 357 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a two-year statute of limitations for all actions for a regulatory taking against the State, including a claim brought under article I, section 20, of the Hawaii State Constitution, regarding eminent domain.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that a recent Hawaii Supreme Court decision, DW Aina Le'a Dev., LLC v. State Land Use Comm'n, 148 Haw. 396, 477 P.3d 836, 837 (2020), held that the statute of limitations for a regulatory taking is six years, pursuant to Hawaii's catch-all statute of limitations for personal actions. This measure would establish that regulatory takings claims are subject to the same two-year statute of limitations as other monetary claims against the State. Your Committee further finds that the two-year statute of limitations should apply to all types of inverse condemnation claims, regulatory and physical, since both can subject the State to high financial exposure. Establishing a two-year state of limitations for inverse condemnation claims will allow the State to take remedial measures to limit liability.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the phrase "regulatory taking" to "inverse condemnation" to clarify that all types of inverse condemnation, physical and regulatory, are subject to the two-year statute of limitations; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 357, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 357, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair