STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 728-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2956

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2956 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MASS TRANSIT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to begin the process of alleviating traffic congestion in Hawaii through a mass transit system by:

(1) Establishing a Mass Transit Planning Account (Account) with a cap of $3,600,000;

(2) Requiring the Director of Finance (Director) to transfer $600,000 from the Account to an account of the highway fund established for each county with a population of greater than 500,000 residents;

(3) Requiring the county to use, upon receipt from the Director, the $600,000 to develop and finalize a mass transit work plan that includes the use of a fixed guideway mass transit system;

(4) Requiring the Director to transfer the remaining $3,000,000 from the Account to the county to execute an environmental impact study and financial plan, if the county council approves the mass transit work plan; and

(5) Providing that a portion of the state gasoline tax be paid into the Account.

The City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services, Leeward Oahu Transportation Management Association, and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill. The Department of Transportation, Department of Taxation, and a concerned individual opposed this measure. The Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii provided comments.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2010, to facilitate further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2956, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2956, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

		____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair