STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1053
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 963
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. 963, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMES AGAINST ELDERS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee
received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the
Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu; Office of the
Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawai‘i; Department of the Prosecuting
Attorney of the County of Maui; AARP Hawai‘i; and four individuals. Your Committee received testimony in
opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender and one
individual.
Your Committee finds that Act 147, Session
Laws of Hawaii 2021, provided additional protections for the State's senior
citizens against physical, emotional, and financial exploitation. However, further clarification to state laws
related to these protections is needed.
Removing the requirement that a perpetrator knew the age of the victim
prior to the offense strengthens the existing laws and ensures the safety and
well-being of Hawaii's kupuna.
Your Committee has amended this measure by 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. 963, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 963, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,
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____________________________ DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair |
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