Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 959 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to equalize the distribution of financial resources for the provision of public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access programming in the County of Maui.

The University of Hawaii, Department of Education-Maui District (DOE-Maui), and numerous individuals testified in support of this measure. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Akaku: Maui Community Television (Akaku), Olelo Community Television, Molokai Properties Limited, and ten individuals testified in opposition to the measure.

Your Committees find that over the years, funding received by public and higher education institutions in the County of Maui to provide educational access programming on cable television has declined to the point of being eliminated. While funding for educational access programming averaged twenty-nine per cent of franchise fees during the period 1993 to 1999, allowing Maui Community College (MCC) and DOE-Maui to provide distance education and outreach services, after the establishment of the County's PEG access organization, funding dropped to fifteen per cent and was discontinued by 2000. In 2003, the access organization's board of directors voted to cease providing operating funds for any state agency, including MCC and DOE-Maui.

The cessation of funding for educational access programming has led to a reduction in staff and operations, and in the quality of services and instruction provided to residents throughout the County. MCC has been unable to meet the increasing demand for distance learning services and to upgrade physical plant operations, and plans for studio facilities on Maui's West Side have come to a standstill.

This measure proposes to restore distribution of PEG financial resources for the educational component of PEG programming by providing that the fees collected by the cable provider in Maui County be allocated equally among public, educational, and governmental access programming.

Your Committees note that the measure, as received, purports to allocate the annual administrative fee paid by the cable operator to DCCA, rather than the access operating fee collected by the operator from its subscribers for the support of PEG access programming. Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure to provide that the moneys distributed by the cable operator for the provision of PEG programming are the access operating fees paid by the operator's subscribers, and not the annual fee paid to DCCA for administration of the cable regulation program. Your Committees have further amended this measure by:

Finally, your Committees have serious concerns about the continuing unresolved differences between the various entities involved in the provision of PEG programming in Maui County that have necessitated the introduction of this measure. Your Committees strongly encourage DCCA to take an active role in bringing the parties together and to facilitate discussions for the resolution of these differences. Your Committees also encourage the parties involved to continue their dialogue on these unresolved issues as this measure proceeds through the legislative process.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 959, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 959, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.