REPORT TITLE:
Public Access


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates $20,000 for moving and equipment costs of the public
access room.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           1241
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC ACCESS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The Hawaii state legislature has demonstrated
 
 2 its commitment to the principle of public access to the
 
 3 legislative process by creating programs such as the public
 
 4 access room, legislative broadcast project, and the legislative
 
 5 website.  Hawaii is considered to be one of the country's models
 
 6 in the development of public access programs, as evidenced by
 
 7 complimentary commentaries in the national and local media.
 
 8      To maintain its commitment to public access, the legislature
 
 9 believes that the current level of service to the public from the
 
10 public access room should be maintained.  Public requests for
 
11 services of the public access room have increased dramatically
 
12 since its beginning in 1990.  In fiscal year 1997-1998 alone, the
 
13 public access room received over five thousand eight hundred
 
14 calls for legislative and other information, serviced about four
 
15 thousand people who visited the public access room or made
 
16 requests for service in person, and conducted public access
 
17 workshops for over two hundred fifty residents.  To meet this
 
18 increased demand, additional space, equipment, and furniture are
 
19 needed to accommodate citizens' needs for legislative access and
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1241
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 related services.  The legislature finds that the current space
 
 2 allotted for the public access room is insufficient to meet the
 
 3 rise in demand for its services and, at the same time, maintain
 
 4 its high quality.
 
 5      The purpose of this Act is to make an appropriation to
 
 6 provide for the costs of relocating the public access room, and
 
 7 for electronic equipment and furniture purchases.
 
 8      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 9 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $20,000, or so much
 
10 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000, to provide
 
11 for moving and equipment costs for the public access room.
 
12      SECTION 3.  The sum appropriated by this Act shall be
 
13 expended by the legislative reference bureau for the purposes of
 
14 this Act.
 
15      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
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17                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________