STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2304

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2297

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor and Transportation and Energy, to which was referred S.B. No. 2297 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to extend the sunset date of Act 65, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013 (Act 65), which provides a limited exemption to the licensing requirements for certain individuals in situations when an electric utility must retain qualified individuals to work with high voltage (six hundred volts or higher) who are not licensed in the State but are otherwise deemed qualified by the electric utility.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency; Board of Electricians and Plumbers; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.; and Land Use Research Foundation.

Your Committees find that most in-state electrical workers are experienced in only low voltage work, which includes wiring buildings at one hundred twenty/two hundred forty volts; therefore, in the event of a catastrophic occurrence requiring electrical workers who possess the level of skill required for high voltage work, Hawaii must import workers from the mainland since there are not enough electricians, splicers, and linemen in the State who are experienced and qualified to work with high voltage and who could respond in the event of a catastrophic occurrence or complex maintenance work affecting an electric utility. Your Committees further find that Act 65 provides a limited exemption to the licensing requirements for certain individuals in situations when an electric utility must retain qualified individuals to work with high voltage (six hundred volts or higher) who are not licensed in the State but are otherwise deemed qualified by the electric utility; however, Act 65 sunsets on June 30, 2018. This measure extends the sunset date of Act 65 for five years, to June 30, 2023.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor and Transportation and Energy that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2297 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Labor and Transportation and Energy,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair