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Please email govtaffairs@hawaiirealtors.com for consent consideration.

Today marks the legislative Second Decking deadline – this means all amended bills in the non-originating body must have been heard and passed out of committee for full floor discussion by today. Second Crossover deadline is slated for next Thursday, April 14th and the last day of session is Thursday, May 5th.

SMALL CLAIMS COURT
On March 31st, SB 651, Relating to Small Claims Court was transmitted to Governor Linda Lingle for consideration. SB 651 clarifies that the district court having jurisdiction over a civil action involving summary possession has concurrent jurisdiction with the small claims court over security deposit disputes between a landlord and tenant.

BAN ON CELLULAR PHONES

HB 88, Relating to Cellular Phones has been held in Senate Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. This bill bans the use of hand held cellular phones while driving. Representative Joe Souki publicly expressed to the media that he will reintroduced this bill next year.

    GENERAL EXCISE TAX INCREASE      

Since April 1, over 1500 letters were faxed to Representatives and Senators at the State Capitol using our Legislative contact program. We have asked both REALTORS® and the public to submit their letters as this bill affects everyone in Hawaii.

Before Tuesday, April 5, HB 1309 proposed to authorize the counties to levy an additional 1 percent surcharge. The Senate Committee on Ways and Means amended the bill and lowered to one-half of 1 percent.

• A 1/2 percent increase is still a 12.5 percent increase and will cost a family of four approximately $500
• The Senate prefers the 1/2 percent surcharge
• The House of Representative prefers the full 1 percent surcharge

HAR cannot speculate what will happen but the bill can change drastically when members of the House of Representatives and the Senate meet in conference to work out their differences. For this reason, HAR continually needs your help to raise the public’s awareness about the detrimental effects of a general excise tax increase.

HAR still needs your help!

1. Get the word out to your families, friends, and colleagues on this issue and how the proposed tax increase will raise the cost of everything you buy in Hawaii. Let them know that they can send in their letters by visiting www.hawaiirealtors.com.

2. Help support this cause by sending a donate to the Issues Mobilization Program (IMP). Send a check to: HAR IMP, 1136 12th Avenue, Suite 220, Honolulu, HI 96816 or for a credit card donation, download an IMP form at www.hawaiirealtors.com/impfund.pdf and fax to 808-737-4977.

3. Distribute information on this issue when attending events or meetings. HAR has provided for you two handouts that you can distribute below.

General Excise Tax Information Handout

Newspaper Advertisement Handout

For the most current and detailed information on bills, go to http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov for bill status and descriptions.

If you have any questions or comments you would like to forward to the Legislative Committee, please call the Government Affairs Division at 733-7060 or 1-888-737-9070, or by e-mail at govtaffairs@hawaiirealtors.com.