Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 836 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the counties to cover the minor costs of administering the volunteer disabled parking enforcement program.

Your Committees received written testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board, the City and County of Honolulu Police Department, Advocates for Consumer Rights, and a Disabled Parking Enforcement Officer. Two additional Disabled Parking Enforcement Officers testified orally in support of this measure.

Your Committees find that the volunteer Disabled Parking Enforcement program is a valuable program that benefits both the State and the public. The volunteers in the program help enforce our laws regarding parking for persons with disabilities by issuing citations to violators. Over the past three years the State has received over $1,000,000 in fines through the efforts of the Honolulu and Maui county volunteer disabled parking enforcement programs.

Equally important, your Committees note that persons with disabilities who require special parking privileges also benefit from these volunteer programs. The large amount of fines collected over the last three years shows that many people violate our laws regarding parking for persons with disabilities. Given the scarcity of spaces available for persons with disabilities, these volunteer programs are extremely important. Although these are volunteer programs, small amounts of funds are required for administration, such as to purchase vests for the volunteers.

Your Committees amended the appropriation language in this measure to ensure that the funds appropriated will be used directly to cover the costs of these programs, rather than for administration of a program to distribute the funds.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 836, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 836, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.