THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	75
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Urging Hawaii's congressional delegation to advocate for local franchising authorities to receive greater cable television regulating power and for the federal communications commission to provide clarity and allow local franchising authorities more discretion regarding the regulation of cable operators as it relates to public, educational, and governmental access channels.

WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels are critical to government transparency and open access to broadcasts of state legislative and county council proceedings and neighborhood board meetings, especially when time and distance may prevent an interested individual from attending the proceeding or meeting; and

WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels provide programming that offers valuable information to viewers and connects the State's unique communities together through the discussion and coverage of cultural matters and events; and

WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels serve an important consumer protection function by broadcasting information to the public during natural disasters and emergencies; and

WHEREAS, the re-designation or relocation of public, educational, and governmental access channel numbers requires strategic and coordinated communication with the public, as lack of sufficient communication will cause confusion; and

WHEREAS, access organizations that oversee public, educational, and governmental access programming may find it difficult to rebrand programs and their services with new channel numbers; and

WHEREAS, federal law limits the regulation of cable services of local franchising authorities; and

WHEREAS, with respect to channel assignments, federal law only expressly requires cable operators to provide thirty days' advance written notice of any repositioning of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station, including a re-designation of a channel number from its number as of March 29, 1990, thereby limiting local franchising authorities' regulatory powers over the re-designation or relocation of local public, educational, and governmental access channels; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission's ability to preempt state laws provides a challenge for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the State's local franchising authority, to regulate cable operators and the designation and location of public, educational, and governmental access channels; and

WHEREAS, federal legislation to provide greater discretion and clarity to local franchising authorities regarding the regulation of cable operators and the designation and location of public, educational, and governmental access channels would strengthen the ability of local franchising authorities to effectively address public concerns; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is respectfully urged to introduce and advocate for federal legislation to provide local franchising authorities with greater regulatory power to alleviate concerns over cable operators and the regulation of public, educational, and governmental access channels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Federal Communications Commission is respectfully urged to consider the limitations of local franchising authorities and provide clarity and allow local franchising authorities more discretion regarding the regulation of cable operators as it relates to public, educational, and governmental access channels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, and Governor of the State of Hawaii.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Local Franchising Authorities; Federal Communications Commission; Public, Educational, and Governmental Access Channels