STAND. COM. REP. NO.
Honolulu, Hawaii
MAR 2 4 2025
RE: S.C.R. No. 44
S. D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Government Operations, to which was
referred S.C.R. No. 44 entitled:
"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE SENATE STANDING
COMMITTEE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE
WHOSE PURVIEW INCLUDES CONSUMER PROTECTION, WITH THE SUPPORT
OF THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU, TO CONVENE A LEGISLATIVE
WORKING GROUP TO DETERMINE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING
APPROPRIATE FAMILY NOTICE AND STANDARDIZED CONSENT PROVISIONS
FOR PRE-NEED CONTRACTS GOVERNING CREMATION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the
Senate Standing Committee and House of Representatives Standing
Committee whose purview includes consumer protection, with the
support of the Legislative Reference Bureau, to convene a
legislative working group to determine recommendations for
establishing appropriate family notice and standardized consent
provisions for pre-need contracts governing cremation.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from one member of the Hawaii State Senate.
Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this
measure from the Hawaii Funeral and Cemetery Association, Inc.;
Mililani Group, Inc.; and Dodo Mortuary, Inc. & Crematory.
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Page 2
Your Committee received comments on this measure from the
Regulated Industries Complaints Office and the Cemetery and
Funeral Trusts Program of the Professional and Vocational
Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs.
Your Committee finds that planning and paying for cremation
services in advance through pre-need contracts is an increasingly
common method selected by individuals to ensure that their wishes
and choices regarding their final arrangements are honored and to
ease the financial burdens on their loved ones. With the
simultaneous rise in the prevalence of incombustible metal
surgical implants due to advances in medical technology, the
disposition of these implants following cremation has become a
pressing issue for many families and mortuaries. This measure
addresses the moral and environmental concerns relating to the
disposal of these implants by establishing a working group to
develop recommendations on best practices to ensure responsible
disposition of the implants by mortuaries, including standard
notice and consent provisions to be included in contracts
governing cremation.
Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony
that the Environmental Health Services Division of the Department
of Health regulates the licensing of mortuaries, and should
therefore be included in the legislative working group.
Therefore, this measure needs to be amended to address this
concern.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying that the working group is requested to review
mortuary operations in other states, rather than
"mainland jurisdictions";
(2) Adding the Chief of the Environmental Health Services
Division of the Department of Health or their designee
as a requested member of the working group; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the
purposes of clarity and consistency.
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Your Committee notes the request made by the Regulated
Industries Complaints Office of the Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs to be removed from the legislative working group,
stating that the Office, which regulates fifty-two separate
industries and professions, may not be best suited given its heavy
workload and limited expertise in the subject matter. Your
Committee further notes the concerns raised by local mortuary
businesses that this measure is unnecessary because their existing
practices and documents already address the disposition of
incombustible metal surgical implants, including informing clients
of their procedures. While acknowledging the local industry's
existing practices, your Committee finds that the issues addressed
by this measure and the concerns raised in testimony merit further
discussion among all stakeholders, including families, funeral
service providers, and regulatory agencies, and respectfully
requests that subsequent Committees to which this measure is
referred conduct a more thorough and comprehensive examination of
the matter.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Government Operations that is attached to this
report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of
S.C.R. No. 44, as amended herein, and recommends that it be
referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, in
the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 44, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on
behalf of the members of the
Committee on Government
ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair
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 The Senate
Thirty-Third Legislature
State of Hawai‘i
Record of Votes
Committee on Government Operations
GVO
Bill / Resolution No.:* Committee Referral: Date:
GVO; CPW
__ The Committee is reconsidering its previous decision on this measure.
If so, then the previous decision was to: ________________________________________________
The Recommendation is:
Pass, unamended V Pass, with amendments __ Hold __ Recommit
2312 2311 2310 2313
Members Aye Aye (WR) Nay Excused
MCKELVEY, Angus L.K. (C)
GABBARD, Mike (VC)
MORIWAKI, Sharon Y.
SAN BUENAVENTURA. Joy A.
FEVELLA, Kurt 1
Recommendation:
TOTAL
mX
3
1^ Adopted __ Not Adopted
distributiOBf^ Original Yellow Pink Goldenrod
File with Committee Report Clerk's Office Drafting Agency Committee File Copy
*Only one measure per Record of Votes
Revised: 12/09/24