STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1081

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1001

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 Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1001, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS RELATED TO THE MAUI WILDFIRES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Maui Wildfires Settlement Trust Fund to be administered by the Attorney General; and

(2) Appropriate funds to fund the settlement of claims related to the 2023 Maui wildfires.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, one member of the Maui County Council, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the Maui wildfire settlement agreements reached in November 2024 aim to provide swift financial relief to approximately two thousand two hundred affected parties who filed lawsuits following the 2023 Maui wildfires. Your Committee further finds that the Maui wildfire settlement agreements resolve claims against multiple defendants, including the State, County of Maui, and several major corporations. Your Committee believes that providing a timely resolution to the lawsuits relating to the 2023 Maui wildfires will set a positive precedent for efficient disaster response and resolution of claims while demonstrating the State's ability to coordinate quickly to respond to disaster and develop solutions in times of crisis. This measure will provide timely relief to the victims of the 2023 Maui wildfires, promote economic stability, and allow Maui to focus on healing, rebuilding, and moving forward in its recovery efforts, rather than enduring years of contentious legal battles.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting legislative findings specifying that the Hawaii Supreme Court recently decided in Matter of Petition for Coordination of Maui Fire Cases that property and casualty insurance companies may only recover payments made to policyholders for Maui wildfire damages using a statutory lien, and that this limitation on the subrogation remedies available to insurers will allow the settlement to proceed as planned; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1001, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1001, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair