STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1960

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 61

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.C.R. No. 61 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A STUDY EXAMINING HOW CERTAIN OTHER JURISDICTIONS PRODUCE FISCAL NOTES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to study how Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, and the District of Columbia produce fiscal notes.

More specifically, this measure requests that the study include, for each of the six jurisdictions, an analysis of:

(1) The statute, rule, or other authority governing the preparation of fiscal notes;

(2) The types of [legislative] bills for which fiscal notes are produced;

(3) The points during the legislative process in which fiscal notes are produced and revised;

(4) The type of information included in the fiscal note;

(5) The entity responsible for producing the fiscal note;

(6) The time period for which the jurisdiction must project financial impacts; and

(7) Any other matters that the Bureau believes may be helpful or significant.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hawai`i Children's Action Network Speaks!, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, ACLU of Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Your Committee finds that fiscal notes are written reports that analyze or project the budget impacts of legislative bills. The procedures used to produce fiscal notes and the information contained within the reports differ dramatically from state to state. Your Committee further finds that studying how certain other jurisdictions generate fiscal notes would be beneficial to determine which model, if any, would best provide useful information for Hawaii's lawmakers.

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 concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 61, and recommends its adoption.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair