STAND. COM. REP. NO. 993

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 83

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 83, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOTELS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require hotelkeepers to provide adequate notice of service disruptions to third-party vendors and prospective and current guests under certain conditions;

(2) Prohibit hotelkeepers from imposing any fee, penalty, or other charge and from retaining any deposit of a guest who cancels a reservation if a service disruption is likely to exist during the period of the reservation; and

(3) Require any hotelkeeper that violates or causes another person to violate this Act to forfeit to the injured party three times the amount of the sum charged in excess of what the hotelkeeper is entitled to.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State AFL-CIO and UNITE HERE Local 5.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Kohala Coast Resort Association.

Your Committees find that hosting travelers is a vital part of the State's economy. Visitors to the State may be unfamiliar with the local practices of construction, labor strikes, and other conditions that may disrupt the flow of services provided by hotels, and they may further lack the knowledge of how to research and find information on such disruptions. Without adequate notification that a planned stay may be materially altered by a service disruption, visitors may be discouraged from coming to the State as they may incur additional charges caused by a sudden need to find different accommodations at the last minute. This measure will address this issue by requiring hotelkeepers to provide advance notice to guests and third-party vendors of a known or likely service disruption, allowing guests to plan accordingly. This measure will also increase transparency and prohibit hotelkeepers from charging guests for canceling reservations that are booked during times service disruptions are expected to take place, assuring visitors to the State that they will not be subjected to financial penalties for conditions outside of their control.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 83, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 83, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair