STAND. COM. REP. NO. 772

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 1060

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.B. No. 1060 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Community Readiness Centers Program to be implemented and administered by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency;

(2) Establish the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund for the implementation and administration of the Community Readiness Centers Program;

(3) Rename the Environmental Response, Energy, and Food Security Tax to the Environmental Response, Energy, Food Security, and Resilience Tax; and

(4) Allocate portions of the Environmental Response, Energy, Food Security, and Resilience Tax into the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Defense and Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation; Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team; and Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that as natural disasters become more frequent, it is critical to have centralized locations where communities across the State can access essential support and health and medical services during and after emergencies.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the amount of the tax on each barrel or fractional part of a barrel of petroleum product that is not aviation fuel to be deposited into the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund to an unspecified amount;

(2) Changing the percentage of the tax on each one million British thermal units of certain fossil fuels to be deposited into the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund to an unspecified amount;

(3) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) 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 Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1060, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1060, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair