Committee advances several bills, defers others; HB671, HB639 and HB1391 pass with amendments

The House Committee on Economic Development and Technology took action on multiple bills during its Jan. 31, 2025 meeting, passing several with amendments and deferring others. The committee’s actions focused on clarifying administrative responsibility, data definitions, consumer-protection enforcement, and committee notes to guide later drafting.

Key actions

HB 671 — Data on native Hawaiians: The committee passed HB671 with amendments. The chair’s amendment moves responsibility for the research from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; changes the native Hawaiian category to “native Hawaiian alone or in combination with other races” for the bill’s purposes; changes “native Hawaiian majority districts” to “native Hawaiian notable districts” and defines “notable” as districts with at least 25% native Hawaiian population; and defects the effective date to July 1, 3000. The transcript records the following roll-call during the vote: Chair and vice chair voted aye; Representative Holt voted aye; Representative Tam voted aye; Representative Templo was excused; Representative Todd voted aye; Representative Matsumoto voted aye; the chair stated the recommendation was adopted.

HB 639 — Consumer disclosures for AI chatbots: The committee passed HB639 with amendments intended to assign primary liability to developers or corporations that knowingly deploy chatbots without required disclosures and to protect small businesses from liability if they unknowingly use chatbots and were not given clear notice and a reasonable opportunity to comply. The committee also accepted Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) suggestions to ensure OCP can seek civil enforcement remedies under Hawaii’s consumer protection statutes. The transcript records the committee adopted the chair’s recommendation; a roll-call tally was not provided.

HB 1391 — Hawaii–Ireland Trade Commission: The committee passed HB1391 with an HD1 to defer the effective date. Testimony from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism supported the concept and noted the commission would identify trade and investment opportunities; one public commenter suggested a broader U.S.–EU pairing instead of a Hawaii–Ireland commission. The chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments was adopted; a roll-call tally was not provided in the transcript.

HB 1361 — Deferred: After testimony and comments, the committee deferred HB1361; no vote to pass was taken.

HB 1384 — AI advisory council and data standards: The committee approved an HD1 that blanks out the appropriation and full-time-equivalent position from the bill and places that information in committee notes, incorporates recommended changes from the Department of Accounting and General Services’ Enterprise Technology Services, and makes technical amendments for clarity, consistency and style. The chair’s recommendation was adopted; the transcript does not list a roll-call tally.

HB 1292 — Deferred: The committee deferred HB1292 after receiving testimony and noting remarks from the Hawaii Community Development Authority and opponents that raised oversight concerns.

Procedure and next steps

Where the committee adopted amendments, the chair instructed that committee notes and agency comments be made available to subsequent committees to guide tax-percentage selection, confidentiality language, appropriations and other technical drafting. Measures passed with amendments will be sent to the next committee of referral; deferred measures remain in committee for later scheduling.

Ending

The committee’s actions on Jan. 31 set directions for follow-on drafting, including a shift in agency responsibilities on selected bills, expanded enforcement language for consumer protections regarding AI chatbots, and committee notes directing later panels to propose fiscal and technical details.