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Committee clears multiple bills with targeted amendments; travel insurance, tinting and others set for follow-up
Summary
Several bills on the Consumer Protection & Commerce agenda were moved with specific edits or requests for further work: DCCA amendments to travel insurance were adopted, windshield-tinting language clarified, rural emergency hospital bill moved as is, an agriculture loophole closed, and a study on condo mutual-insurance models was ordered.
The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce took action on a set of measures during a Feb. 12 hearing, moving multiple bills forward with committee amendments or with direction to other committees.
Key outcomes
- House Bill 97 (travel insurance): The committee recommended adopting the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ proposed amendments as filed in testimony and passed the measure out of committee with that amendment. Representative Iwamoto said she would vote with reservations to learn more about marketplace impacts for ancillary travel insurance offers.
- House Bill 226 (windshield tinting): The committee amended the draft to require that a car window be fully rolled down when an officer requests it, and requested the Judiciary Committee consider whether the timing of the request or the penalty (petty misdemeanor) should be further addressed. The bill moved forward with those clarifying edits.
- House Bill 1179 (rural emergency hospitals): The committee moved the measure “as is” to allow the Department of Human Services and other agencies time to determine federal compatibility, and noted support for an amendment protecting Medicaid participation.
- House Bill 1291 (agriculture; coffee industry loophole): After noting concern about an existing loophole in statute, the committee voted to delete an additional $10,000 fine; testimony established the conduct in question is already a Class C felony and the committee agreed no extra fine was necessary.
- House Bill 490 (condominium insurance/mutual model study): The committee amended the bill to require a study on whether a mutual-insurance model could be applied to Hawaii condominiums, including participation with mainland mutual insurers and whether state laws would need to change. The study date was changed to a placeholder (07/01/3000) for further discussion.
Committee process and next steps: In most cases, the committee either adopted technical clarifications requested by agencies (DCCA, DOT) or referred matters for further study and interagency coordination. Members asked that certain issues—such as the timing and scope of officer interactions in vehicle stops, and Medicaid compatibility for rural emergency hospital designations—be examined by the appropriate policy or judiciary committees.
