STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1186

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 1571

S.D. 2

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 Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 1571, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TOURISM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Exempt all positions filled by the Hawaii Tourism Authority within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism from the State's civil service law;

(2) Amend the definition of "convention center facility" to clarify that its facilities must reflect a Hawaii sense of place; and

(3) Amend the eligibility requirements for service on the Hawaii Tourism Authority's Board of Directors by repealing the two-year waiting period for former Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau board members.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.

Your Committee finds that exempting positions within the Hawaii Tourism Authority from the State's civil service law will provide the Authority with greater flexibility to recruit and hire the skilled professionals it needs to carry out its responsibilities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Designating the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Tourism Authority as an advisory board;

(2) Inserting language to specify that the powers described in section 201B-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are granted to the Hawaii Tourism Authority except as otherwise provided by law, rather than as otherwise limited by chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(3) 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 Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1571, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1571, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism,

____________________________

ADRIAN K. TAM, Chair