STAND. COM. REP. 965

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1657

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 1657, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF PARKING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide support for various programs that provide parking assistance to disabled persons by:

(1) Establishing the Parking For Persons With Disabilities Special Fund (Special Fund) to provide funds for:

(A) Administration of the statewide Parking for Disabled Persons Program (Program);

(B) Payment to the counties for administrative costs related to the issuance of permits to qualified persons with disabilities;

(C) Payment to the counties for the implementation of a volunteer parking enforcement program; and

(D) Any other purpose deemed necessary by the Disability and Communication Access Board that relates to the Program;

and

(2) Raising the annual state registration fee for vehicles and motor vehicles to $20.70, with 70 cents of each fee transferred to the Special Fund.

The Honolulu Police Department, Advocates for Consumer

Rights, and a concerned individual supported this bill. The Department of Budget and Finance opposed this measure.

Upon further review, your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting the provisions of H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 3. As amended, this bill, among other things:

(1) Authorizes a law enforcement officer, and a commissioned volunteer enforcement officer during normal business hours, to access the property of a private entity to enforce disabled-parking laws;

(2) Prohibits parking in the access aisles adjacent to disabled parking spaces;

(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 from a petty misdemeanor to a misdemeanor the penalty for fraudulent manufacture, alteration, or use of a placard or identification card;

(8) Repeals the provision that any vehicle displaying special license plates, a removable windshield placard, or a temporary removable windshield placard displaying the international symbol of access shall be permitted to park in any metered or unmetered parking space for a specified time without paying metered parking 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) Establishes that when citations for the illegal use of a parking space reserved for disabled persons are refused, the citations shall be sent by certified or registered mail, with a return receipt that is postmarked within 72 hours of the time of the incident, to the registered owner of the vehicle.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1657, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1657, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing.

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

 

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair