STAND. COM. REP. NO. 633

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 583

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 583 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to designate an access organization to oversee public, educational, and governmental channels on cable television.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Everett Kaneshige, Deputy Director, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Kat Brady, Coordinator, Community Alliance on Prisons; and three individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from Aaron S. Fujioka, Administrator, State Procurement Office.

     Your Committee finds that the public procurement process is too inflexible to meet the needs of the community media system.  The procurement process does not allow for consideration of issues such as public participation, quality of programming, diversity of viewpoints, and other matters relevant to the mission of public access media.  Empowering the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to designate an access organization to oversee public, educational, and governmental channels will allow for more efficient and deliberate planning of public access television programming.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 583, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 583, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair