House Standing Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce

Good afternoon. I'd like to call the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce to order. This is our Tuesday, April 1, 2pm agenda and we are at the State Capitol in Conference Room 329. We have four measures on the agenda, so we're going to take them in tandem.

First up, we have HCR 45 HD1 and HR 38 HD1 urging the Public Utilities Commission. Actually got the script but okay, rolling back. Let me go get through this script first before we going to our agenda.

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Such behavior may be grounds for removal from the hearing without the ability to rejoin. Okay, now let's go back to our main agenda. So first up we have HCR 45 HD1 and HR 38 HD1.

Urging the Public Utilities Commission to support the complete transfer of its regulatory authority over motor carriers and other means of transportation, including water carriers, to the Department of Transportation. First up, we have the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in support.

Aloha. Good afternoon, Chair Chun, Chair Matayoshi and Members of the House Committee on Similar Protection and Commerce. My name is Andrew Okabe. I'm a utility analyst at the Public Utilities Commission. I'm here on behalf of the Commission.

I signed the Commission's written testimony in support of HCR 45 HD1, HR 38 HD1 and available for any questions the Commission the Committee may have. Thank you.

Thank you. Next we have the Department of Transportation.

Good afternoon. Chair Matayoshi, Vice Chair Chun, Members of the Committee, I am Larry Dill, Hawaii. Department of Transportation, Hawaii Administrator. We stand in support of this measure on our testimony as submitted. Thank you.

Right. Thank you. That's all I have. Who registered to testify in person or on Zoom? Is there anybody else wishing to testify on this measure? Seeing None. Members, any questions? Seeing none. Oh, okay.

Yes, Chair.

So if you guys are willing to do this. And why do we need the RESO for this?

Well, if we were to do it, we do need changes to the statutory language so as to change any reference of the Commission regarding both water carriers and motor carriers to now reference the appropriate DOT division that will receive this.

But that's not what this. This resolution does. Right. It doesn't change the statutory language. So. Yeah, I guess I'm not. I guess I'm not clear.

Yes.

Was there a bill that.

There was a bill, SB 1219, that I believe did get deferred in the Senate Transportation Committee or Transportation Culture and Arts Committee. And I believe that the intent was to kind of prod the Commission. Both the Commission and maybe DOT to support, you know, further efforts, maybe in the future to do this.

Okay, so. But it's urging you guys to support this. But you. You already support it, right?

We did support it in that Committee and we will, I believe, support this if. If you. If it comes up again.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions? Members seeing none. Thank you. Let's move on to the next two measures. HCR 58 HD1 and HR 54 HD1. Requesting the Hawaii State Energy Office to convene a Geothermal energy working group to evaluate the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding geothermal energy in Hawaii. First up, we have DCCA in support.

Good afternoon. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Asami Kobayashi here on behalf of Mike Angelo, who's a consumer advocate. We stand on our written testimony in support. If you have any questions, I can take them back to our team.

Thank you. Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in support.

Aloha. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, I'm Jessica Simon. I'm an analyst with the PUC and available for any questions. Stand on our written testimony.

Thank you. Department of Applying. Homelands in support. Way State Energy office in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Monique Zanfes. Stand on our written testimony in support. And I'm available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Life of the land. Support. President, Energy Justice Network. Oh, not present testimony. Opposition. Students for justice in Palestine at the University of Hawaii. Opposition.

You're going to have to excuse me for looking down at my phone. There's a bunch of meetings relating to geothermal energy today, so I don't want to get all of my testimony confused and mixed up. My name is Caitlin Bray. I'm a student. I'm a Member of the Students for Justice in Palestine at, uh.

And we strongly oppose this bill. I would like to start out by reminding the Committee that there is an active, unprecedented geothermal injunction right now at the intermediate Supreme Court against the State of Hawaii, the Department of Health, PGV and others who are listed within this working group that is on this bill. There is also.

And this is in complete. Sorry, my bad. Is in complete violation under UN law under the IOL Convention 169, which is being active, actively documented this measure. The environmental. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I'm all over the place. The environmental implications of this geothermal energy production warrants significant scrutiny.

There is a risk of land, substance, water contamination, greenhouse emissions associated with all geothermal projects. There are interest in the voices of local and native communities, particularly with Kanaka groups, which must be prioritized. I'm sorry, I'm like all over the place. I know it doesn't look like these voices are being prioritized within this Bill and other measures.

And we strongly recommend that before anything else moves forward. And I see that some of you might have questions about this being analyzed. And I would love to give you guys copies of the current documents that are being upheld in court. So if you guys have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you. That's all I have. Who registered to testify online or in person? Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none. Members, any questions?

Question for the Department? I guess. Who's-

Hi.

Thank you for. For your testimony. So I'm not sure there was a reference made to an injunction. Do you know about what case that is?

Personally, I don't, but I can get back to you.

Is there any other Department representative? Yeah, Andrew. Do you know about it?

Okay. He also does not.

And then secondly, in terms of, you know, we had other bills that dealt with geothermal specifically on the Big island. And we had a lot more testing testimony from cultural practitioners concerned with the land, specifically on Hawaii Island. But for some reason I don't see their testimony here. But do are.

At what point in this task force or study would that voice be heard. Or even be relevant?

I believe there was discussion at the last hearing of including Members from the Hawaiian community in the working group. And the POC would be supportive of that. But basically we just support the working group being existing and being as complete as possible, which would include that.

Any other questions, Members? Seeing none. Let's move on to the next measure. Next up, we have HCR 91, HR 87, requesting health insurers and managed care providers that provide health insurance in the state to provide insurance coverage for prosthetic and orthotic devices. And we have one testifier, Megan Severn, in support.

Good afternoon. My name is Meg Severn, and I'm a 14 year old amputee. I'm a local representative of So Every Body Can Move. As an athlete and as an amputee, I've experienced what it is like not to be able to participate in certain sports. I lost my leg two years ago due to a rare cancerous bone tumor.

Insurance companies say it is only medically necessary for me to be able to walk, therefore only providing a walking prosthetic. Do you think this is fair? The only way I am able to participate in any sports or PE at school is because of other people's charity. If not for the generosity of others, I would be sitting on the side watching my peers be physically active and running.

One of my friends had knee surgery last month to be able to run again. Insurance paid for her to have knee surgery, but insurance won't pay for me to run. If it were up to insurance companies, I would not be able to run. Being able to run as an amputee is a luxury, but it shouldn't have to be. This is asking insurance companies to provide people like me with sports prosthetics.

Eight states have already passed similar bills, and I would love to have your support to introduce it in Hawaii. This legislation is not just about prosthetics. It's about ensuring people with limb loss or limb difference can thrive, not just survive. It's about promoting physical and mental health, reducing long term health care costs, and ensuring a full and active life.

By supporting So Every Body Can Move, you'll ensure that no one in Hawaii is held back from participating in physical activity. I urge you to vote in favor of this so that everyone, regardless of their physical challenges, can access the equipment they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives. Together, we can ensure that everybody has opportunity to move freely. Thank you.

Thank you for being here. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this measure? Seeing none. Members, any questions? Seeing none. Let's move on to our last measure. Okay, let's...

We have HCR102 HR98 strongly urging the Real Estate Commission to allow for the Administration of the Real Estate Salesperson Examination in the Japanese language for purposes of issuing a full real estate salesperson's license limited to the sale of timeshare products in Hawaii to promote the sale of these products to Japanese speaking visitors and enhance Japan's involvement in and support of the Hawaii tourism industry.

First up, we have the Hawaii Real Estate Commission in opposition.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Neil Fujitani on behalf of the Hawaii Real Estate Commission. And I'll stand on our written testimony in opposition.

Thank you. Thank you. That's all I have. Who registered to testify this measure in person or on zoom? Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Oh, yeah.

Good afternoon, Chair Matayoshi and Vice Chair Chun. My name is Linda Rodrigues. I am testifying on the behalf of ARDA, the American Development Association. We represent the timeshare industry. So we are strongly urging the administrator the translation of the real estate exam for the purpose of growing and empowering our community around sales from Japanese clients. So over.

I'm sorry, let me take that from the top. Okay. Sorry. We have over 90 resorts and 15,000 timeshare units. We strongly support the Administration of this and translation of this exam from. From English to Japanese. Hawaii has been good for the timeshare industry and so has the timeshare industry been for Hawaii.

When you look at traditional timeshare resorts compared to hotels, we drive 90% occupancy. The Japanese owner base represents a big portion of these arrivals. We feel like there's a missed opportunity. An opportunity to be able to secure the future of Japanese visitors back to Hawaii.

In addition to empowering our team Members who are struggling with passing this real estate exam. In times of challenges such as Covid, the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Iniki, the timeshare industry has been quite resilient. This is based upon the industry, the members, having a prepaid vacation that they can use for future travel.

So as such, we are requesting that we have strong consideration to translate these examinations from English to Japanese. And the industry is sponsoring and supporting this from an administrative cost perspective. I'll stop there. Are there any questions for me? Sorry, I got real nervous. That's okay.

Yeah. Anyone else wants to testify first?

Yeah. Yeah. Is there anyone else who just testifying this measure, seeing none Members, any questions? Since I have a question? Sure.

Commission.

It's my understanding that the. The idea is that the license would only cover certain activities like timeshares. Is that right? Be restricted?

I think that is what's being proposed.

How would that work?

That's a good question. I think the Commission has a problem or issue with issuing probably a conditional license limited to the timeshare industry. But the proponents of the measure would probably want to keep that newly licensed person within that organization. More than likely it's a larger organization and I guess the fear is what occurs after they leave.

Would a regular principal broker who operates a brokerage firm that happens to resell or sell timeshare, have the capacity to instruct or oversee that licensee. And that's part of the issue that the Commission would have that proper oversight and protecting the public in that real estate transaction.

Thank you. Thank you, Jeff.

Any other questions, Members?

Go ahead.

So when. So I guess timeshare sales is different. It's a different, I guess, process than purchasing a freestanding piece of property where two parties have realtors representing each. There's a realtor representing the seller and a realtor representing the buyer. But in the case of the timeshare, it's a realtor representing the seller.

But the consumer signs all that paperwork without any professional advocate or person.

That's my understanding, yes.

So is there the alternative to this. What this resolution is trying to do is that they use bilingual salespeople. Realtors. Bilingual realtors. And is there a shortage of bilingual Realtors that we need to.

I suppose so. And I think maybe the industry could probably expound a little bit better than I could.

Yeah. So then I'll. If you're comfortable. Thank you.

Great. Questions? Well, there is a shortage of bilingual real estate professionals, and that's the primary reason for this request. When a Member comes on tour. Right. Or guest comes on tour, the entire sales presentation is delivered in Japanese. So from A to Z. Now, the process, the sales process is very different than a traditional real estate transaction.

We do have an entire staff that supports the sales and also the administrative process, the contracting process. So all of the documents are communicated to the. To the guest in Japanese, although that document is in English. So I just want to clarify that it's fully translated to them in Japanese.

We have a great relationship with the consumer protection agency in Japan as well. So I just want to note that the process is completely facilitated in Japanese. The member has a full understanding of what the purchase is, and our request is simply to translate the.

The real estate exam to give them the option to say, yes, today I will take this exam in English or in Japanese.

Some of those individuals may elect to take the course in English and still take the exam in English, but many of them are having to take the exam up to five times, so they may want to take it in Japanese.

Are you allowed to. Is the consumer allowed to see the contract in English and Japanese as one contract so that they can read everything and understand it in Japanese?

So the entire contract is in English, and there's an abbreviated version of that contract that's provided to them in Japanese.

And So why isn't that sufficient? Why, why do you need a licensed broker to who only speaks Japanese to be able to do this transaction?

Because the amount of time that would be required to take them through the entire sales process and property tour would be so extensive that it would really be punitive for us as an industry to have to make that accommodation.

What we're asking is that the accommodation be made on behalf of the exam so that we can then in turn solve a crisis around hiring bilingual sales executives and then in addition to that, be able to grow the amount of owners that own a timeshare here in Hawaii. We've done this in other jurisdictions.

So for example, in the State of Florida, you have the option to take the exam in English and, and Spanish. In the State of New York, you can take it in four different languages. So we're simply asking that we have an opportunity to test this.

The industry is willing to sponsor and pick up that that cost of the translations. We've spoken to the facilitator of the exam, the company, the third party that does that. They have done this in multiple states and are very, very supportive.

They will translate the exam from English to Japanese and then back from J Japanese to English for accuracy. Any questions? Okay, thank you.

Any other questions, members? Seeing none, let's take a short recess. Recess.

Okay. We're reconvening the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce for our 2:00 p.m. agenda. So first up, members, we have HCR 45 HD 1/ HR 38 HD 1. Recommendation is to pass as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none. Chair for the vote.

On HCR 45 HD 1, vice chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Chair and vice chair vote aye. [Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

All right, thank you. Next we have HCR 58 HD 1/ HR 54 HD 1. Recommendation's do pass as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns, members?

I'll be voting with reservations.

Anyone else? Okay, seeing no other question, chair for the vote.

Vice chair's recommendation for HCR 58 HD 1 is to pass as is. Noting the presence of Representative Pierick and the excused absences of Rep. Tam and Rep. Ilagan, who will be noted for the rest of session, anyone else voting with reservations? Anyone else voting no? Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. Next we have HCR 91/HR 87. Recommendation is to pass as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns, members? Seeing none. Chair for the vote.

Okay. Vice chair's recommendation for HCR 91 is to pass as is. Noting the previously excused members, any members voting with reservations? Any members voting no? Your recommendation is adopted.

And our last measure, HCR 102/HR 98: recommendation is to pass out of House Draft One, and we are going to change the full real estate--the language and the purpose of a full real estate salesperson's license to a limited real estate salesperson's license because, really, the original intent was a limited license for a limited purpose, so to change that and also make conforming amendments. That and is--are there any questions, comments, or concerns, members? Yeah.

So I thought the point was to--we're amending it to--just to be clear--we're amending this to make it so this limited license would only allow someone who took the test in Japanese to sell to someone in Japanese.

Sell to a Japanese national.

Yes.

Okay, so let me clarify what changes will be. So we're just going to go from, I think currently it says, 'allowing the administration of a real estate salesperson's examination in the Japanese language for purposes of issuing a full real estate salesperson's license.'

We're going to change that to: 'allowing for the administration of the real estate salesperson's examination in the Japanese language for the purpose of issuing a limited real estate salesperson's license for the sale of timeshare products in Hawaii to Japanese-speaking visitors for the purpose of enhancing Japan's involvement in and support of the Hawaii tourism industry.' Make conforming amendments for that purpose.

Was it Japanese-speaking or Japanese nationals?

Japanese-speaking.

Would you consider making it Japanese nationals? Because Japanese speaking might be a little subjective. I got poor grades in my Japanese classes, but I would not consider myself a Japanese speaker, but there's gray areas, is what I'm saying.

Yeah. I'd be able to move that.

Thank you.

Okay, we're going to change that from Japanese-speaking to Japanese nationals.

So chair, can I confirm that you are changing the title of the resolution?

Yes.

Okay, well, I'm going to vote no based on the, the testimony of the--sorry--of the Real Estate Commission. Thank you very much.

Okay. Any other questions, comments, or concerns, members? Seeing none. Chair for the vote.

Vice chair's recommendation for HCR 102 is to pass with amendments. Noting the excused absences previously mentioned and the no vote for Representative Iwamoto, any other members voting no or reservations? Okay. No for Representative Pierick. Any other noes or reservations? Okay. Chair, your recommendation's adopted.

All right, thank you. This meeting is adjourned.