Senate committee forwards SCR 44 to CPN after adding DOH environmental branch, keeping DCCA in working group

The Senate Committee on Government Operations voted on March 20, 2025 to advance SCR 44 as Senate Draft 1, referring the measure to the Senate CPN committee for more detailed consideration. SCR 44 asks standing committees with consumer-protection jurisdiction, with the support of the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB), to convene a legislative working group to draft recommendations on family notice and standardized consent provisions for pre-need contracts governing cremation.

The committee recorded the Chair, the Vice Chair and Senator San Buenaventura voting yes; Senators Moriwaki and Fevella were excused. The committee said it would note concerns from testifiers in its committee report and moved the measure forward to allow a fuller hearing in CPN.

Testimony in the hearing record included written comments and a mix of opposition and support. Jay Morford, identified as president of the Hawaii Funeral and Cemetery Association, testified in opposition and said, “we stand on our written testimony in opposition. Primarily, we don't feel it's necessary due to the fact that our funeral homes already provide disclosure… on this measure in our cremation authorization forms.” Other mortuary representatives — including Mitchell Dodo of Dodo Mortuary Inc. and Ricky Aoki, vice president of Soy Garden Mortuary — also submitted testimony in opposition. At least one individual, Jim Shone, submitted written testimony in support. The Legislative Reference Bureau submitted comments; testimony from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) included both requests and comments in the record.

During decision making, the Chair said the committee would keep DCCA in the working group despite a recorded request to be excluded, explaining that removing DCCA would “take away the purview of CPN.” The committee also accepted a change to replace the phrase “mainland jurisdiction” with “other states” and agreed to add the Department of Health environmental branch to the working group as suggested in testimony. The committee characterized the edits as technical and procedural while noting testifier concerns would be reflected in the committee report.

The committee did not adopt final policy language during the March 20 session; SCR 44 was forwarded to the committee handling consumer-protection issues (CPN) for a detailed hearing and drafting of the working group's scope.