REPORT TITLE:
Public Access


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds so that legislative sessions can be broadcast
in streaming media format via the internet, adds a full time
position to the public access room, establishes a child care
pilot program, and transfers the responsibility for the sale and
distribution of statutory revision from the lieutenant governor
to the legislature.  (SB2354 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2354
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                H.D. 1
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 legislature finds that it is crucial to the
 
 2 decision making of the legislature to have citizen involvement
 
 3 and input into the legislative process.  One of the most
 
 4 effective means of promoting citizen involvement and input into
 
 5 the legislative process is through public access.  The Hawaii
 
 6 state legislature has demonstrated its commitment to the
 
 7 principle of public access to the legislative process by creating
 
 8 programs such as the public access room, legislative broadcast
 
 9 project, and the legislative website that encourage education and
 
10 support for citizen involvement in the legislative process.
 
11 Hawaii is considered to be one of the country's models in the
 
12 development of public access programs, as evidenced by
 
13 complimentary commentaries in the national and local media.
 
14      The purpose of this Act is to further enhance public access
 
15 by:
 
16      (1)  Funding a legislative media streaming pilot project to
 
17           allow public access to the internet;
 
18      (2)  Establishing a child care pilot program to allow
 
19           parents of young children to participate in the
 
20           legislative process; and
 

 
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 1      (3)  Transferring responsibility for statutory publications
 
 2           from the lieutenant governor to the legislature to
 
 3           increase public access to these publications.
 
 4                              PART I
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Televised coverage of state legislative sessions
 
 6 is an important source of information for citizen participation
 
 7 in public proceedings.  At present, some legislative sessions are
 
 8 available through the public broadcast project, but those are
 
 9 only available to people who have access to cable television.
 
10 The legislature must reach out in all feasible ways to assure
 
11 that knowledge of the legislature's deliberations is as
 
12 widespread as possible.  One alternate method of broadcasting
 
13 legislative hearings to as many people as possible is the
 
14 publication of legislative events through video and audio on the
 
15 internet.  This process, called streaming media, is valuable in
 
16 that it allows the public to access legislative sessions whenever
 
17 they want, not merely at set times.  All it requires is a
 
18 standard dial-up connection to the internet, and free software
 
19 that is included with internet Explorer and Netscape, the two
 
20 most popular internet web browsing systems.
 
21      These streaming media programs can be made available
 
22 wherever computers are made available, such as in public
 
23 libraries, schools, youth centers, section centers, and other
 

 
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 1 public places.  It would increase public access at a very low
 
 2 cost to the State.
 
 3      The project will be undertaken by the Maui Research and
 
 4 Technology Center and Akaku, the public access organization of
 
 5 Maui.  The Maui Research and Technology Center will provide
 
 6 technology, expertise, and telecommunications resources.  Akaku
 
 7 will contribute its programming experience and partnership
 
 8 building skills.
 
 9      The purpose of this part is to appropriate $34,500 for a
 
10 pilot streaming media project to allow legislative sessions to be
 
11 broadcast in streaming media format via the internet.
 
12      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
13 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $34,500 or so much
 
14 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for a
 
15 legislative audio streaming pilot project.
 
16      SECTION 4.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
17 legislature for the purposes of this part.
 
18                              PART II
 
19      SECTION 5.  To maintain its commitment to public access, the
 
20 legislature believes that the current level of service to the
 
21 public from the legislative reference bureau's public access room
 
22 should be maintained.  Public requests for services of the public
 
23 access room have increased dramatically since its beginning in
 

 
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 1 1990.  In fiscal year 1998-1999 alone, the public access room
 
 2 received over seven thousand five hundred calls for legislative
 
 3 and other information, serviced over four thousand people who
 
 4 visited the public access room or made requests for service in
 
 5 person, and conducted public access workshops for almost five
 
 6 hundred residents.  This rise in demand for services from the
 
 7 public access room cannot be met with only one full-time staff
 
 8 member.  An additional interim staff person is needed to serve
 
 9 the needs of the citizens for legislative access and related
 
10 services.  The legislature finds that one person is insufficient
 
11 to provide for the increased demand for the services of the
 
12 public access room and, at the same time, maintain its high
 
13 quality.
 
14      The purpose of this part is to make an appropriation to
 
15 convert an existing part-time position to an additional full-time
 
16 staff position for the public access room.
 
17      SECTION 6.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
18 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $13,200 or so much
 
19 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for a
 
20 second full-time staff person for the public access room.
 
21      SECTION 7.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
22 office of the legislative reference bureau for the purposes of
 
23 this part.
 

 
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 1                             PART III
 
 2      SECTION 8.  Currently, many parents who would like to
 
 3 participate in the legislative process are unable to because they
 
 4 are parents of young children and lack adequate child care
 
 5 services.  To maintain its commitment to public access for all,
 
 6 the legislature believes that a child care pilot program should
 
 7 be enacted to allow parents of children to participate in the
 
 8 legislative process.  The pilot program would pay for the cost of
 
 9 child care services for parents who testify in state legislative
 
10 hearings.
 
11      The purpose of this part is to establish a child care pilot
 
12 program to allow parents of young children to participate in the
 
13 legislative process.
 
14      SECTION 9.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
15 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $           or so much
 
16 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for a child
 
17 care pilot program.
 
18      SECTION 10.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
19 legislature for the purposes of this part. 
 
20                              PART IV
 
21      SECTION 11.  Currently, the statutory revision
 
22 responsibility resides with the legislature, however, the
 
23 responsibility for the sale and distribution of the Hawaii
 

 
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 1 Revised Statutes, resides with the lieutenant governor.
 
 2 Providing the legislature with full oversight over the
 
 3 publication, sale, and distribution would enable the legislature
 
 4 to improve the usefulness of the statutory publications and
 
 5 information and shift more rapidly toward placing all legislative
 
 6 information online as a cost-savings and public access
 
 7 enhancement.
 
 8      The purpose of this part is to transfer the responsibility
 
 9 for the sale and distribution of the Hawaii Revised Statutes,
 
10 from the lieutenant governor to the legislature.
 
11      SECTION 12.  Section 21D-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
12 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
13      "(a)  There is established a Hawaii legislative publications
 
14 special fund within the treasury of the State into which shall be
 
15 deposited:
 
16      (1)  All licensing fees or royalties derived from the
 
17           publication of the Hawaii Revised Statutes [in
 
18           electronic format];
 
19      (2)  All appropriations made by the legislature to the fund;
 
20           and
 
21      (3)  Any other proceeds derived from the publication and use
 
22           of other legislative publications and information
 
23           services [in an electronic format].
 

 
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 1      All interest accrued by the revenues of the fund shall
 
 2 become part of the fund."
 
 3      SECTION 13.  Section 23G-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended to read as follows:
 
 5      "§23G-18  Sale and distribution.  The session laws,
 
 6 supplements, and replacement volumes shall be sold and
 
 7 distributed by the [lieutenant governor] legislature at a price
 
 8 fixed by the [lieutenant governor.] legislature.  The money
 
 9 received therefor shall be paid into the state treasury to the
 
10 credit of the [general] Hawaii legislative publications special
 
11 fund[.] established under section 21D-5.  The [lieutenant
 
12 governor] legislature may furnish the session laws, supplements,
 
13 and replacement volumes to public officials for official use free
 
14 of charge.  As used in this chapter, public officials include
 
15 officials of the state and county governments, of the
 
16 congressional delegation of the State, of the United States
 
17 District Court, District of Hawaii, and of the United States
 
18 Attorney's Office in Hawaii."
 
19      SECTION 14.  Section 26-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
20 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
21      "(a)  Except as otherwise provided by law, the lieutenant
 
22 governor is designated the secretary of state for
 
23 intergovernmental relations and shall perform the duties and
 

 
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 1 functions heretofore exercised by the secretary of Hawaii.  The
 
 2 duties and functions shall include[,] but not be limited to[,
 
 3 recordation of all legislative and gubernatorial acts,]
 
 4 certification of state documents[,] and maintenance of an
 
 5 official file of rules adopted by state departments as provided
 
 6 in chapter 91.  The lieutenant governor may employ staff as
 
 7 necessary without regard to chapters 76 and 77."
 
 8      SECTION 15.  Section 93-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended to read as follows:
 
10      "[[]§93-15  Legislative journals; sale and distribution.[]]
 
11 The journals of the senate and house of representatives,
 
12 published in accordance with the rules of each house of the
 
13 legislature, shall be sold and distributed to the public by the
 
14 [lieutenant governor] legislature at a price fixed by the
 
15 [lieutenant governor.] legislature.  The money received therefor
 
16 shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the
 
17 [general] Hawaii legislative publications special fund.  The
 
18 [lieutenant governor] legislature may furnish the journals of the
 
19 senate and house of representatives to public officials free of
 
20 charge.  As used in this section, public officials include
 
21 officials of the state and county governments, of the
 
22 congressional delegation of the State, of the United States
 
23 District Court, District of Hawaii, and of the United States
 
24 Attorney's Office in Hawaii."
 

 
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 1      SECTION 16.  The joint legislative access committee
 
 2 established pursuant to Act 174, Sessions Laws of Hawaii 1996,
 
 3 shall make recommendations to the senate president and the
 
 4 speaker of the house of representatives on the transition of
 
 5 control over the sale, distribution, storage, and other ancillary
 
 6 concerns related to the legislature's assuming control of
 
 7 legislative publications covered in this part.  The joint
 
 8 legislative access committee is authorized, with the prior
 
 9 approval of the president of the senate and the speaker of the
 
10 house of representatives, to enter into agreements with the
 
11 office of the lieutenant governor, the legislative reference
 
12 bureau, and any other public or private entity to ensure the
 
13 efficient transfer of control and the storage of legislative
 
14 publications from the office of the lieutenant governor to the
 
15 legislature.
 
16                              PART V
 
17      SECTION 17.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
18 New statutory material is underscored.
 
19      SECTION 18.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000;
 
20 provided that part IV shall take effect on July 1, 2001.