STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1493

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.R. No. 202

       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 Labor, Culture and the Arts and Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism, to which was referred S.R. No. 202 entitled:

 

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY TO CREATE A STATUTORY DEFINITION OF CREATIVE WORKERS AND DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX MAY BE USED TO ASSIST CREATIVE WORKERS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to conduct a study to create a statutory definition of creative workers and provide recommendations on the structure by which transient accommodations tax revenues may be used to support creative workers.

 

     Your Committees did not receive any testimony on this measure.

 

     Your Committees find that creative work is generally understood as a tangible manifestation of creative effort, including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching), performance art, dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and compositions, with a degree of arbitrariness such that it is improbable that two persons would independently create the same work.  People from all over the world who visit Hawaii have historically enjoyed the unique work produced by creative workers, including but not limited to painters, sculptors, ceramicists, writers, poets, photographers, film makers, visual artists, singers, composers, musicians, lyricists, choreographers, dancers, actors, and other performing artists.  Your Committees also find that the significant decrease in the number of tourists in Hawaii due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the livelihood of creative workers.  This measure serves as groundwork for the Legislature to establish measures to support the creative workers in Hawaii.

 

     Your Committees note the LRB's concerns regarding the tasks it is being asked to perform in this measure.  First, the LRB states that it has no expertise or experience in matters relating to transient accommodations tax, tourism, or creative arts.  Second, the LRB raises the lack of parameters needed for it to produce a meaningful report, including explicit guidance on the definition of "creative workers" from which the LRB can create a statutory definition and policy determinations as to the extent the "support" of creative workers should be prioritized over other concerns.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting references to utilization of transient accommodations tax revenues to assist creative workers;

 

     (2)  Providing non-statutory general definitions of "creative work" and "creative workers" as guidance to the LRB; and

 

     (3)  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 Labor, Culture and the Arts and Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 202, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 202, S.D. 1.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Labor, Culture and the Arts and Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism,

 

________________________________

GLENN WAKAI, Chair

 

________________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair