Daily Archives: March 10, 2009

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 708 – H.B. 1316, H.D. 2, Relating to Torts.

            I rise in support of House Bill 1316, House Draft 2, Relating to Torts.  In cases involving tort claims relating to the maintenance and design of public highways, design professionals and public utility companies are sometimes left with liability beyond their percentage of negligence because of our current joint and severability law.  This measure will help our local companies but still protect our public by abolishing joint and several liability for design professionals and public utilities in tort claims relating to the maintenance and design of public highways, except when a design professional’s or public utility’s degree of negligence is 25% or more.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 677, H.B. 1751, H.D. 1, Relating to Communications Fraud.

            I rise in support of House Bill 1751, House Draft 1, Relating to Communications Fraud.  This bill updates existing statutes relating to cable television and telecommunications service fraud to address an expanding array of technology services offered by communication companies that include cable television and telecommunications, Internet-based, or wireless distribution networks.  It establishes the offense of communication service fraud in the first and second degrees, provides civil remedies, authorizes forfeiture, and establishes evidentiary presumption.  The purpose of the measure is to discourage theft of cable television and telecommunications service.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 674, H.B. 1512, H.D. 1, Relating to Temporary Restraining Orders.

            I rise in support of House Bill 1512, House Draft 1, Relating to Temporary Restraining Orders.  A goal of mine is to play a small role in helping survivors of domestic violence.  There are cases where an individual has threatened to harm not just his partner, but his partner’s pet.  Unfortunately, pets get caught in the crossfire of an abusive relationship.  Therefore, House Bill 1512, House Draft 1 addresses this threat by authorizing the family court, when issuing a temporary restraining order, to award exclusive care of a pet animal or equine animal and enjoin the restrained party from having any contact with the animal.  Under the Hawaii Revised Statutes section 711-1100, “Pet animal” means a dog, cat, domesticated rabbit, guinea pig, domesticated pig, or caged birds (passeriformes, piciformes, and psittaciformes only) so long as not bred for consumption and “equine animal” means an animal of or belonging to the family Equidae, including horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, asses, burros, and zebras.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

H.B. 618, Relating to the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act.

            I rise in support of House Bill 618, Relating to the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act.  This bill enacts the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act to replace and update the existing Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act.  It provides guidance and authority to charitable organizations concerning the management and investment of funds held by those organizations.   In addition, the measure provides additional protections for charities and also protects the interests of donors.   It also modernizes rules governing expenditures from endowment funds.  Further, the bill gives institutions ability to cope more easily with fluctuations in the value of the endowment.   Finally, it updates provisions governing the release and modification of restrictions on charitable funds to permit more efficient management of these funds.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 821, H.B. 782, H.D. 1, Relating to the Uniform Mediation Act

I rise in support of House Bill 782, House Draft 1 Relating to the Uniform Mediation Act.  This bill adopts the Uniform Mediation Act.  It provides certain rules for mediations and establishes a privilege that assures confidentiality of mediations in legal proceedings.  In addition, the measure protects integrity and knowing consent through provisions that provide exceptions to the privilege, limits disclosures by the mediator to judges and others who may rule on the case, requires mediators to disclose conflicts of interest, and assures that parties may bring a lawyer or other support person to the mediation session.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 820, H.B. 779, Relating to the Uniform Foreign Country Money Judgments Recognition Act.

            I rise in support of House Bill 779, Relating to the Uniform Foreign Country Money Judgments Recognition Act.  This bill enacts the Uniform Foreign Country Money Judgments Recognition Act and in so doing, replaces and updates similar law codified as chapter 658C, HRS.  It updates former law by, among other things, allocating burden of proof with respect to application of law, setting out procedure for obtaining recognition of foreign country money judgments, expanding grounds for denying recognition and allocating burden of proof to do so.  Finally, it establishes statute of limitations.  Thank you.

Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu

Written Remarks into the House Journal – Consent Calendar

March 10, 2009; 26^th Day

Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 819, H.B. 623, H.D. 1, Relating to State Identification.

I rise in support of House Bill 623, House Draft 1, Relating to State Identification.  State identification is vital for seniors, children, and other individuals who do not possess a driver’s license or other picture identification.  Currently, obtaining a state identification card (certificate of identification) is a lengthy process because processing and administration is conducted at a single location with limited hours of operation.  This leads to long lines and some individuals are turned away due to the daily demand.  There have been recent attempts to bring state identification personnel into the community, but only for specific dates and times.

Community members and organizations such as the Waipahu Neighborhood Board recognize that the City & County of Honolulu’s satellite city halls are convenient locations for state identification processing.  Satellite city halls provide services with extended hours, weekend availability, and convenient locations.

            The authority to process and issue state identification cards is vested in the attorney general.  The purpose of this bill is to allow the attorney general to contract with one or more counties to process and issue state identification cards at satellite city halls or other locations.  Thank you.