HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	211
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCESS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT ACCESS TELEVISION STATIONS.

     WHEREAS, public education and government cable access television stations (PEG access stations) are sole-source, community-television-building entities; and

     WHEREAS, the Attorney General opined that PEG access stations are subject to the State's public procurement process; and

     WHEREAS, the Attorney General and the Administration have withheld publishing the Attorney General's opinion for public review; and

     WHEREAS, public sentiment has been overwhelming--if not unanimous--in its support either for exempting PEG access stations from the public procurement process or acknowledging that PEG access stations are not subject to the public procurement process; and

     WHEREAS, the State Procurement Office and the Cable Television Administration, the chief overseers of the public procurement process for PEG access stations, are not subject to any independent oversight by the public; and

     WHEREAS, the public has overwhelmingly presented its concerns to the State Legislature and Administration regarding the importance of community television in Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, in 1995, the Legislative Reference Bureau was requested to study and make recommendations regarding PEG access stations, and in 1997, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs commissioned a similar report and found that the method of imposing the public procurement process on PEG access stations is at odds with these reports and recommendations; and

     WHEREAS, there has been a tremendous public outcry concerning the clandestine and surreptitious manner in which the imposition of the public procurement process on PEG access stations has been conducted; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) is requested to study the legality, effectiveness, and appropriateness of the imposition of the procurement process on PEG access stations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that LRB consider the feasibility and potential effectiveness of enacting and implementing alternative regulatory frameworks for PEG access in Hawaii; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that LRB report its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of LRB; the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; the Administrator of the State Procurement Office; the Chairperson of the Procurement Policy Board; and the chairpersons of the Board of Directors of Hoike: Kauai Community Television, Inc., Na Leo O Hawaii, Inc., Olelo Community Television, and Akaku: Maui Community Television.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

PEG Cable Access