STAND. COM. REP. NO. 630

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 129

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 129, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO YOUTH FEES AND FINES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the assessment of any fees, fines, or court costs against a person who is adjudicated for an offense committed while the person was a minor under the age of eighteen, or against the person's parent or guardian;

(2) Limit court-ordered community service for a minor to no more than seventy-two hours; and

(3) Repeal certain penalties imposed on parents, guardians, or other persons associated with unaccompanied children in streets and unmarried minors in dance halls.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Office of the Public Defender; Community Alliance on Prisons; ACLU Hawaiʻi; ʻEkolu Mea Nui; Nā ʻŌpio Waiwai; Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi; Debt Free Justice Hawaiʻi; Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii; CARES; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary; Department of Education; and Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that the imposition of fees, fines, and costs on young people and their families can have wide-ranging consequences, none of which serves the purposes of rehabilitating, deterring, or punishing delinquent youth. Your Committee further finds that these monetary assessments have a disproportionate impact on families of color and can even lead to recidivism and escalating crime. This measure would follow the lead of other states by eliminating the economic burden of monetary assessments for Hawaii's youth and families.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing that if a minor is given community service for a violation of highway safety laws, the community service shall be limited to no more than seventy-two hours and not interfere with the minor's school or work commitments; and

(2) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 129, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 129, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair