CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 158-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: S.B. No. 3193
S.D. 2
H.D. 2
C.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 3193, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONSUMERS,"
having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.
The purpose of this bill is to afford Hawaii's long suffering gasoline consumers relief by fine-tuning Act 77, Sessions Laws of Hawaii 2002, which imposed maximum pre-tax wholesale and retail gasoline prices for gasoline sold in the State.
Specifically, this bill would:
(1) Change the baseline for determining maximum pre-tax wholesale gasoline prices by using the national unweighted average spot price of all unleaded gasoline as reported by the Oil Price Information Service;
(2) Extend maximum pre-tax wholesale price limits to mid-grade and premium gasoline;
(3) Repeal the price limits on the sale of gasoline on the islands of Molokai and Lanai and the Hana district of Maui;
(4) Repeal the maximum pre-tax retail gasoline price;
(5) Provide a Neighbor Island wholesale adjustment factor to jobbers servicing the islands of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii;
(6) Transfer the responsibility of collecting and analyzing information received from the petroleum industry from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to the Auditor;
(7) Establish a legislative task force to investigate the petroleum industry on the islands of Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Hawaii;
(8) Direct the Auditor to undertake a study to determine the most appropriate method of establishing a baseline gasoline price;
(9) Extend the effective date for the imposition of the maximum pre-tax wholesale gasoline price limit; and
(10) Make an appropriation to be expended by the Auditor to carry out the duties assigned that office by Chapter 486J, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
After due and detailed deliberation, your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Changing the baseline for determining maximum pre-tax wholesale gasoline prices by using the average of the spot prices for regular unleaded gasoline for the markets of Los Angeles, New York Harbor, and the United States Gulf Coast;
(2) Deleting the neighbor island wholesale adjustment factor and inserting the figures of $.05 and $.09 respectively for the mid-grade and premium adjustment factors;
(3) Establishing zones within the State and authorizing the Public Utilities Commission to adjust the maximum pre-tax wholesale gasoline price in the various zones;
(4) Extending the effective date for the imposition of the maximum pre-tax wholesale gasoline price limit to September 1, 2005;
(5) Deleting the provision relating to the responsibility of the auditor under chapter 486J, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with respect to the task force and requires the Public Utilities Commission to provide support to the task force;
(6) Deleting provisions relating to the ethanol content requirement;
(7) Making an appropriation of $500,000, to be expended by the Public Utilities Commission for the purposes of Chapter 486H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and this bill;
(8) Clarifying the purpose section of the bill;
(9) Changing the effective date from July 1, 2099 to July 1, 2004; and
(10) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3193, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3193, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:
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ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE |
ON THE PART OF THE SENATE |
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____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Co-Chair |
____________________________ RON MENOR, Co-Chair |
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____________________________ KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Co-Chair |
____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair |
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____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Co-Chair |
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