STAND. COM. REP. NO. 785

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1235

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1235, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to promote the use of the Hawaiian language.

Specifically, the measure:

(1)  Requires the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to work with various interested stakeholders and assess the best method to ensure dedicated funding for the development of a Hawaiian television channel; and

(2)  Appropriates funds for the production and distribution of Hawaiian language content on cable television.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

     Your Committee finds that the use of the Hawaiian language in the media will increase the prospects for the language's intergenerational continuity and maintenance.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Removing the requirement that funding to 'Oiwi TV should be made as a grant subject to chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style; and

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, in order to facilitate continued 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. 1235, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1235, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair