REPORT TITLE:
Public Access; Television


DESCRIPTION:
Permits public access organizations to appoint their own board
members if they agree to comply with the sunshine laws.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2416
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
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.  Public access television is an important public
 
 2 resource.  It serves as a low-cost way to perpetuate the free
 
 3 flow of ideas, an essential component of democracy.  Since the
 
 4 inception of the four public access organizations in Hawai`i,
 
 5 however -- `Olelo for Honolulu, Ho`ike for Kaua`i, Na Leo `O
 
 6 Hawai`i for the county of Hawai`i, and Akaku for the county of
 
 7 Maui -- the State has retained a certain amount of control by
 
 8 requiring that a majority of their board members be appointed by
 
 9 the department of commerce and consumer affairs.  This was a way
 
10 to ensure that the fledgling organizations would start off with
 
11 strong boards.  However, the organizations are now well
 
12 established and quite capable of naming their own board members.
 
13 The time has now come to shift the oversight responsibility from
 
14 government to a community-based organization.
 
15      In exchange for gaining the right to name their own boards,
 
16 the public access organizations need to demonstrate their firm
 
17 commitment to the public by ensuring that their board meetings
 
18 and deliberations are open to the public.  The State has a strong
 
19 interest in the proper management of this important and unique
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2416
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 public resource.  The State is willing to move the oversight
 
 2 function of appointing board members and place it in the hands of
 
 3 the access organizations, if the access organizations will be
 
 4 responsive to their users and supporters by providing openness
 
 5 and accountability.  
 
 6      The purpose of this Act is to ensure that this important
 
 7 public resource is made available to all segments of the
 
 8 community by moving control and oversight responsibility into the
 
 9 hands of a diverse, nonpartisan, and non-government organization
 
10 and its users and supporters.
 
11      SECTION 2.  The department of commerce and consumer affairs
 
12 shall permit each access organization that agrees to the
 
13 requirements of section 3 of this Act to amend its bylaws to
 
14 permit the access organization to appoint the board members
 
15 formerly required to be appointed by the department of commerce
 
16 and consumer affairs.  In any future contract with an access
 
17 organization, the department shall not require that any of its
 
18 board members be appointed by the department and shall require
 
19 the access organization, in exchange, to comply with the state
 
20 sunshine laws, chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
 
21      SECTION 3.  In exchange for permitting the access
 
22 organization to appoint the board members presently now appointed
 
23 by the department of commerce and consumer affairs, the access
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2416
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 organization shall agree to fully comply with chapter 92, Hawaii
 
 2 Revised Statutes.
 
 3      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 4 
 
 5                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________