STAND. COM. REP. NO. 56

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 874

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 Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 874 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD PERFORMERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to protect the safety, morals, health, and well-being of child performers who work or reside in the State by:

(1) Requiring a parent or legal guardian of a minor in theatrical employment to establish a trust account for the minor;

(2) Requiring the employer of a minor in theatrical employment to deposit a portion of the minor's earnings into the trust account until the minor becomes an adult or is emancipated; and

(3) Clarifying that theatrical employment, as used in the State's child labor law, includes gainful occupation as a social media influencer.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from SAG-AFTRA Hawaii Local, AFL-CIO; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee finds that child performers contribute significantly to the entertainment industry, yet without proper financial protections, they risk losing the earnings they work hard to achieve. To prevent the financial exploitation of child performers in the State, this measure provides certain protections and safeguards to ensure that young performers' earnings are protected, promoting their financial security and well-being.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the misappropriation or fraudulent use of funds by a parent or legal guardian is a breach of fiduciary duty subject to penalties;

(2) Adding a savings clause;

(3) Changing the 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 Human Services & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 874, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 874, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services & Homelessness,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair