RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS.
Summary
SB2354 requires the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) to make certain contact information for newly registered business entities publicly available online. The bill specifically covers a registrant’s name, phone number, email address, and mailing address, and it directs DCCA to include that information in its business registration division database of public information.
The bill also requires DCCA to transmit that same contact information to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism’s Business Development and Support Division, unless the newly registered entity affirmatively opts out in a manner set by the director. A related amendment to chapter 428 makes the same online-publication and transmission requirements applicable there as well, and the bill updates a cross-reference in chapter 415A to align filing rules with the revised business-registration provisions. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2050.
Impact
SB2354 would expand the amount of business registration data that state agencies must publish and share, creating a new public-information requirement for newly registered entities. It would affect the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ business registration functions and the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism’s business support operations, while also modifying statutory references in chapters 414, 415A, and 428 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. The practical effect is to improve access to contact information for new businesses and facilitate outreach and resource connection efforts, subject to an opt-out process.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad support in committee and on the floor. It passed the Senate committees on Economic Development and Technology and Commerce and Consumer Protection unanimously with amendments, and later passed Senate Ways and Means unanimously as well. The available voting history suggests generally favorable sentiment toward the bill’s goal of helping small businesses connect with state resources.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record, but the main policy issue is privacy versus outreach. The bill makes business contact information publicly available online and shared across agencies by default, while allowing newly registered entities to opt out. Any concern would likely center on whether making phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses more accessible could create privacy, solicitation, or administrative burdens for new businesses, though no recorded committee transcript or dissent shows active controversy.