STAND. COM. REP. NO. 118

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 922

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 922 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Limit the period of years that criminal convictions may be used by the liquor commission in review of an application to the most recent ten years; and

(2) Mandate an applicant to disclose specific disqualifying convictions related to certain federal or state laws related to products regulated pursuant to certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code or the Federal Alcohol Administration Act.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that existing law requires liquor license applicants (and, in certain instances, the officers and board of directors of companies who are designated as decision-makers regarding the sale or purchase of liquor) to report any conviction other than minor traffic violations going back to eighteen years of age, which exceeds requirements established by the federal government. This requirement is overly burdensome and can have the effect of discouraging business or employment. This measure establishes a ten-year lookback period for criminal convictions, which is the standard for many other applications, while still mandating an applicant to disclose specific disqualifying convictions from any time related to products regulated pursuant to certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and Federal Alcohol Administration Act to better serve the public interest.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 922, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 922, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair