Bill Text: HI SB726 | 2013 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Rental Motor Vehicle Surcharge Tax; Car-sharing Organizations

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-03-07 - Referred to TRN, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 30 [SB726 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SB726-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 575

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 726

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 726, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENTAL MOTOR VEHICLE SURCHARGE TAX,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to exempt car-sharing organizations from the rental motor vehicle surcharge tax.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Hertz Corporation and two concerned individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation and the Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that car-sharing organizations offer an environmentally and traffic friendly alternative to mass motor vehicle ownership.  These organizations allow members, many of whom cannot afford or prefer not to own a motor vehicle, access to motor vehicles from the organization's fleet on a short-term basis, often hourly.  This arrangement reduces greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion by encouraging car-sharing as an alternative to car ownership.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Defining a car-sharing organization as an organization that:

 

          (A)  Operates, exclusively, a qualified fleet of vehicles primarily for hourly rental;

 

          (B)  Charges an annual membership separately from other charges;

 

          (C)  Provides self service, fully automated access to its qualified fleet exclusively to its members;

 

          (D)  Does not require a separate written agreement for each use of a vehicle in the qualified fleet;

 

          (E)  Clarifies that the hourly fee includes fuel, insurance, maintenance, and other costs;

 

          (F)  Limits member use of the qualified fleet to no more than twelve hours per day; and

 

          (G)  Requires vehicles to be returned to the point of rental;

 

     (2)  Defining the term "qualified fleet of vehicles" by requiring, among other things, that the fleet include an unspecified percentage of hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and electric vehicles;

 

     (3)  Requiring car-sharing organizations that seek rental motor vehicle surcharge tax exempt status to submit and have approved by the Department of Taxation an application that shows compliance with all of the requirements of a car-sharing organization;

 

     (4)  Authorizing the Department of Taxation to require the car-sharing organization to submit an electronic report of all exempt income derived from the operation of the organization;

 

     (5)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure, including discussion on the percentage of vehicles that must be hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and electric to meet the requirements of a qualified fleet; and

 

     (6)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purpose of consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 726, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 726, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

		____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair