STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1530

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 667

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 Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 667, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify requirements for the removal of a deceased cat or dog from a public roadway.

More specifically, this measure requires:

(1) The Department of Transportation or the appropriate county department or agency to:

(A) Scan the deceased animal for a microchip;

(B) Record the microchip as well as any other relevant information; and

(C) Notify appropriate county animal services or animal service contractors about the deceased animal; and

(2) A county agency assisting with the disposal of a deceased cat or dog found on a public roadway to collaborate with the Department of Transportation in utilizing the Department's microchip scanners.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and one individual.

Your Committee finds that since January 1, 2022, all cat and dog owners in Hawaii must have a microchip implanted in their pet and register the microchip number and owner's contact information with a microchip registration company. Your Committee further finds that when deceased cats and dogs are removed from public roadways by appropriate state or county agencies, the microchips are not routinely scanned, thereby preventing notification to the pet's owner that the pet has been killed by a vehicle or otherwise found deceased. Accordingly, your Committee recognizes that this measure establishes needed procedures for the responsible handling of deceased pets that are removed from public roadways.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 667, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 667, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair