STAND. COM. REP. NO. 587

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 3
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B.
No. 3 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO USE OF INTOXICANTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to consolidate and make uniform,
where appropriate, the statutory provisions relating to driving
under the influence of intoxicating liquor, driving under the
influence of drugs, impaired boating offenses, and zero tolerance
violations.

     More specifically, the bill:

     (1)  Makes driving with a measurable amount of alcohol (zero
          tolerance), driving under the influence of drugs, and
          impaired boating offenses subject to the administrative
          revocation of driver's license provisions, instead of
          providing for suspension of license or privilege to
          operate a vehicle pursuant to a district court hearing;

     (2)  Consolidates the implied consent provisions for driving
          with a measurable amount of alcohol (zero tolerance),
          driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor,
          driving under the influence of drugs, and impaired
          boating offenses; and

 
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     (3)  Makes the penalties for driving under the influence of
          drugs and impaired boating offenses consistent with
          those for driving under the influence of intoxicating
          liquor by consolidating these provisions into the
          offense of operating a vehicle while under the
          influence of an intoxicant.

     Out of concern over inconsistent impaired driving and
boating provisions and disparate penalties for similar offenses,
the Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 26,
S.D. 1, entitled "Requesting the Department of Transportation to
Review Hawaii's Impaired Driving Statutes and to Make
Recommendations for Uniform Statutory Construction", during the
Regular Session of 1998.  This bill is the result of efforts by
the Governor's Highway Safety Council Impaired Driving Task Force
and the Department of Transportation in response to that
Resolution.

     Your Committee finds that it is entirely appropriate and
desirable to provide for uniform and consistent statutory
provisions with respect to operating a vehicle while using
intoxicants.  Your Committee further finds that the present
inconsistent provisions relating to zero tolerance, impaired
driving, and impaired boating have occurred largely as a result
of patchwork legislation over time that amended some statutory
provisions relating to impaired driving, but failed to make
mirror amendments to other, similar offenses.  Accordingly, your
Committee believes that the Senate version of this bill, S.B.
No. 1212, which reenacts and consolidates these provisions into a
new, separate chapter within the Hawaii Revised Statutes,
provides a better format to ensure that future legislative
actions will maintain the consistency and uniformity established
within this bill.

     Your Committee has amended the bill by replacing its
contents with that similar to S.B. No. 1212 and making the
following additional changes:

     (1)  Redesignating section    -83, (which reenacts existing
          section 291-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to
          evidence of intoxication), as section    -3, adding it
          to part I of the new chapter, and reinserting the
          existing language relating to presumptions;

     (2)  Adding a new section    -4 to part I to clarify that:


 
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          (a)  Any offense under sections 200-81, 291-4, or
               291-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as these sections
               were in effect prior to the bill's effective date,
               or any conviction in any other state or federal
               jurisdiction for any offense similar to these
               offenses or to operating a vehicle while under the
               influence of an intoxicant shall count as a prior
               offense; and

          (b)  Any violation of section 291-4.5, as that section
               was in effect prior to the bill's effective date,
               shall be counted as a prior violation;

     (3)  Making similar amendments, with respect to convictions
          in any other state or federal jurisdiction for any
          similar offense, to the definitions of "alcohol
          enforcement contact" and "drug enforcement contact" in
          section    -1 and to section    -81(c) relating to
          prior offenses;

     (4)  Making a number of conforming amendments;

     (5)  Adding a new section to the bill requiring the Revisor
          of Statutes to prepare proposed conforming legislation
          to make necessary amendments to statutes that will be
          affected by the repeal of present statutory provisions,
          as provided in the bill;

     (6)  Deleting the provision applying the bill retroactively
          to all proceedings and, instead, making the retroactive
          provision apply only to cases pending as of the bill's
          effective date that involve driving under the influence
          of drugs and making corresponding changes to the
          purpose section of the bill;

     (7)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2000, to provide
          additional time for the Judiciary and law enforcement
          agencies to develop new procedures and forms to ensure
          compliance with the bill; and

     (8)  Making a number of technical, nonsubstantive changes
          for purposes of style, clarity, and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 3,

 
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as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in
the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 3, H.D. 1, and be referred
to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Transportation,



                                   ______________________________
                                   KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair

 
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