STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2302

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3240

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 3240 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER'S LICENSE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow an active service member of the United States Armed Forces to apply for renewal of a driver's license twenty-four months prior to the date of expiration.

     The Department of Defense and Department of Transportation submitted testimony stating that the measure is unnecessary.  The City and County of Honolulu submitted testimony in opposition with recommendations for amendments.

     Your Committees find that depending on when the service member applies for a renewal, under this measure Hawaii will effectively be issuing a driver's license that will be valid up to eight years.  This eight-year license would be available only to service members.  Currently, any applicant that is issued a Hawaii driver's license is able to renew by mail within six months prior to the license expiration date and ninety days after expiration, without penalty.  Additionally, any applicant may renew a driver's license within one year after its expiration date.  Service members on active federal service outside of the State may file for a renewal within ninety days of the applicant's return to the State or discharge from hospitalization and the reactivation fee is waived.

     Your Committees further find that the amendments recommended by the City and County of Honolulu would provide a more equitable option, without penalizing service members should the driver's license expire while a service member is deployed outside the United States.

     Your Committees have amended this measure accordingly, by deleting and replacing its contents with an amendment to section 286-106, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to:

     (1)  Increase the valid period of a driver's license from six to eight years;

     (2)  Authorize the examiner of drivers to issue a license for a shorter period if the licensee has a physical condition or conditions that the examiner of drivers reasonably believes may impair the driver's ability to drive;

     (3)  Allow the expired driver's license of a member of any component of the United States Armed Forces who is on active federal service and whose driver's license had expired while deployed outside the United States, to remain valid for ninety days after the service member's return to the United States; and

     (4)  Change the effective date to reflect the November 1, 2008, change in the City and County of Honolulu's licensing computer program.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3240, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3240, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and International Affairs and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair