STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 748
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 594
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. 594, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOTELS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require hotelkeepers to provide adequate notice of service disruptions to guests and third-party vendors under certain conditions; and
(2) Allow for recovery of damages by injured consumers.
Your Committee finds travelers staying in hotels are often vulnerable to service disruptions that they may not be aware of at the time of booking. To protect travelers and maintain the vitality of the tourism sector, your Committee believes that it is essential for hotels to notify guests of potential disruptions and allow them to cancel reservations without penalty.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Amending the circumstances under which a guest may terminate any remaining period of a reservation, booking, or agreement for the use of a room or hotel service without being assessed a fee, penalty, or other charge or forfeiting certain deposits;
(2) Amending the amount of damages that a hotelkeeper must pay to an injured consumer;
(3) Deleting language that would have established a private right of action by an injured consumer;
(4) Clarifying that the term "guest" includes hotel service users; and
(5) 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. 594, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 594, 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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