STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2779

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2863

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2863, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FEMININE HYGIENE PRODUCTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase access to necessary health resources by exempting the sale of feminine hygiene products from the general excise tax.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Rainbow Family 808, Common Cause Hawaii, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates–-Hawaii, Health Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Ilima Intermediate School Activist Club and Rainbow Royales Gender Sexuality Alliance Club, Hawaii Women Lawyers, Ma`i Movement Hawai`i, Hawaii Food Industry Association, Hawaii Public Health Institute, and fourteen individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation, Department of Budget and Finance, and Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that 288,348 women and girls between the ages of twelve and forty-four reside in the State, and that one in eight of those persons lives below the federal poverty line. Your Committee further finds that exempting feminine hygiene products from the general excise tax would alleviate an unequal tax burden on women and improve accessibility to these products.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2863, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2863, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair