STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1122

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1296

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1296, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE MAJOR DISASTER FUND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish timely notice and reporting requirements to the Legislature by the Governor regarding the transfer of appropriations to the Major Disaster Fund.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the Governor and Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that the 2023 Maui wildfires caused devastating loss of life and damage to infrastructure in the State. This emergency prompted the Governor to redirect money from selected general fund operating appropriations originally intended for specific purposes and capital improvement projects to the Department of Budget and Finance, which the Department then transferred into the Major Disaster Fund to address the need for support in the wake of the wildfires.

Your Committee further finds that transparency and accountability are particularly necessary for circumstances in which the state government utilizes funds originally intended for a set purpose to instead address natural disasters and other emergencies. This measure will address the need for this information to be made available to the public in a clear and accessible manner by requiring reports to be submitted to the Legislature in a timely manner regarding the transfer of appropriations to the Major Disaster Fund.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the time period for the reporting requirement on the purpose of the allotment, transfer, or expenditure to the Legislature from twenty-one days to thirty days after any allotment or transfer; and

(2) 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 Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1296, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1296, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,

________________________________

BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair