STAND. COM. REP. NO. 114

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1315

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Economic Development and Taxation, to which was referred S.B. No. 1315 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ACCESS HAWAII COMMITTEE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to re-enact and codify sections of Act 292, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, to make the Access Hawaii Committee permanent and to authorize the committee to provide oversight of the State's Internet portal manager.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services, State Procurement Office, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Office of Information Practices, High Technology Development Corporation, the Judiciary, and the County of Kaua‘i.

     Your Committee finds that Act 292, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, established the Access Hawaii Committee as a mechanism for oversight of the State's Internet portal manager, and authorized setting charges for electronic services.  This Act contained a sunset date of June 30, 2003.  Act 110, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003, extended the sunset date to June 30, 2005, but it was not subsequently extended and the committee ceased to exist at that date.

     Your Committee has heard from a broad range of governmental agencies about the importance of the committee and its oversight of the State's portal manager.  Public expectations about Internet access to government information continue to increase at a rapid pace, and agencies must be able to meet these demands in a coordinated, efficient, and timely manner.

     It is the intent of your Committee to support the permanent establishment of the Access Hawaii Committee and to expand its membership.

     Your Committee has amended this measure accordingly, to:

     (1)  Increase the membership of the committee from eleven to thirteen, and add the Administrative Director of the Judiciary and a representative of the Legislature's data management system; and

     (2)  Make technical, nonsubstantive amendments to conform to the preferred drafting style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development and Taxation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1315, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1315, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development and Taxation,

____________________________

CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair