STAND. COM. REP. NO. 698

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1370

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1370, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LICENSES TO SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a standard license to solemnize marriages, valid for one year from the date of issuance;

(2) Establish a short-term license to solemnize marriages, valid for sixty days from the date of issuance;

(3) Establish a fee of $100 per year for the issuance of a standard license;

(4) Establish a fee of $25 per sixty-day period for a short-term license; and

(5) Specify in what amount and to which fund license fees shall be deposited.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that there are over twenty thousand marriage licenses issued in Hawaii each year that are performed by one of eleven thousand licensed individuals in the State. Extensive state resources are required to process licenses authorizing individuals to solemnize marriages, with costs absorbed by the State. However, individuals who solemnize marriages charge couples for services that range from $100 to $500 per ceremony, allowing licensed individuals to quickly recover the cost of a license. This measure establishes equity between religious and non-religious license terms and fees to solemnize marriages in the State to ensure efficiency of state services and the timely processing of marriage licenses.

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. 1370, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

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JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair