STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1767
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: S.B. No. 31
S.D. 2
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 S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Uniform Law Commission.
Your Committee finds that discriminatory restrictive covenants, though unenforceable, remain in real estate records, reflecting historical injustices that conflict with Hawaii's commitment to equality. This measure provides a process for property owners to formally acknowledge and invalidate these covenants through recorded statements or notices, ensuring clarity in property records.
Your Committee has
amended this measure by:
(1) Amending the statement or notice, which calls attention to the discriminatory restrictive covenant, to include the other classes protected by this measure;
(2) Including as a basis for determining whether a restrictive covenant is a discriminatory restrictive covenant that the restrictive covenant violates the Equal Protection Clause under article I, section 5, of the Hawaii State Constitution; 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, 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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