STAND. COM. REP. NO.1189
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 1572
H.D. 3
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 3, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PARKING FOR DISABLED PERSONS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to improve and strengthen the enforcement of various provisions governing access to parking by the disabled. Among other things, this measure:
(1) Authorizes a law enforcement officer, and, under certain conditions, a commissioned volunteer enforcement officer, to access the property of a private entity to enforce disabled parking laws;
(2) Prohibits parking in access aisles adjacent to disabled parking stalls;
(3) Defines "removable windshield placard" to mean a two-sided, hanger-style placard issued to a person with a disability who presents a certificate of disability that verifies that the applicant's disability is expected to last for at least four years;
(4) Defines "temporary removable windshield placard" to mean a two-sided hanger-style placard issued to a person with a disability who presents a certificate of disability that verifies the person's disability in monthly increments, which shall not exceed six months;
(5) Repeals certain restrictions and requirements relating to the issuance of removable windshield placards, temporary removable windshield placards, and identification cards;
(6) Repeals the provision allowing a county to charge a replacement fee to be paid to the issuing agency when a placard is lost;
(7) Increases the penalty for fraudulent manufacture, alteration, or use of a placard or identification card from a petty misdemeanor to a misdemeanor.
(8) Repeals references to the international symbol of access in the section allowing vehicles displaying this symbol or special license plates, a removable windshield placard, or a temporary removable windshield placard to park in any metered parking space for a specified time without paying meter fees;
(9) Expands the list of parking infractions involving the use or failure to use removable windshield placards, temporary removable windshield placards, or special license plates; and
(10) Allows any citation refused by the violator to be mailed to the violator pursuant to summons or citation provisions under the Traffic Code.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Police Department, the Disability and Communication Access Board, and a concerned citizen.
Your Committees support full and vigorous enforcement of the State's laws regarding parking for persons with disabilities, and therefore support this measure, which will strengthen and improve Hawaii law in that area.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 3, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Health,
____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
____________________________ CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair |
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