STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1268

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1296

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1296, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE FUNDS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Repeal the Hawaii tobacco prevention and control trust fund and transfer unencumbered balances to the general fund;

 

     (2)  Specify that Hawaii tobacco settlement special fund monies shall only be deposited into the University of Hawaii revenue-undertakings fund until July 1, 2033; and

 

     (3)  Appropriate general funds to the Department of Health for tobacco prevention and control.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii Smokers Alliance and ten individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Health; Adventist Health Castle; Hawaii Pacific Health; AlohaCare; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; American Heart Association; American Lung Association; Bay Clinic, Inc.; Blue Zones Project; Hawaii Community Foundation; Hawaii COPD Coalition; Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center; Hawaii Public Health Institute; Kapiolani Smokefree Families; Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; Big Island Substance Abuse Council; Hawaii Primary Care Association; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services; Lānai Community Health Center; Student Health Advisory Council; Waianae Comprehensive Health Center; Waimānalo Health Center; We Are One, Inc.; Hawaii Medical Association; Hawaii Public Health Association; Save Medicaid Hawaii; and fifty-four individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, University of Hawaii System, and University of Hawaii at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine.

 

     Your Committees find that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic severely impacted the State's economy.  As a result, the State must find creative solutions to finance programs statewide.  This measure allows the State to reallocate monies from the Hawaii tobacco prevention and control trust fund into the general fund while preserving tobacco prevention programs.

 

     Your Committees note the testimony of the Department of the Attorney General, which raised concerns that the measure as drafted may violate article 1, section 10, of the United States Constitution, which bars states from passing laws impairing the obligations of contracts.

 

     Therefore, your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the date by which unencumbered balances to be lapsed from the Hawaii tobacco prevention and control trust fund to the general fund from July 1, 2021, to September 1, 2022;

 

     (2)  Inserting a blank appropriation amount;

 

     (3)  Removing the amendment repealing the tobacco prevention and control advisory board's duty to advise on the administration of the Hawaii tobacco prevention and control trust fund;

 

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

 

     (5)  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 Health and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1296, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1296, 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 Committees on Health and Higher Education,

 

________________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair

 

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair