STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1304

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 177

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 Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 177, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CIVIL IDENTIFICATION CARDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Make the issuance or renewal of a civil identification card free of charge; and

(2) Repeal the Civil Identification Card Fee Special Fund and lapse any unexpended and unencumbered funds into the general fund.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and three individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation and Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that identification is required to access many benefits and services in the State, including employment, housing, and health care. Your Committee further finds that for individuals without a stable income, including the elderly and unhoused, the financial burden of obtaining a civil identification card represents a significant barrier. Accordingly, this measure eliminates the financial barrier associated with obtaining a civil identification card, allowing individuals belonging to the State's most vulnerable populations to better access necessary benefits and services.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Restoring language in existing law that establishes the Civil Identification Card Fee Special Fund;

(2) Inserting a new section to appropriate an unspecified amount for the fiscal biennium to the Department of Transportation for the costs related to civil identification card issuance; provided that there is a dollar-for-dollar match by the counties; and

(3) 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 Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 177, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 177, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair