STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3291

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 13

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.R. No. 13 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TO REQUIRE ALL TELEVISION STATIONS THAT BROADCAST IN HAWAII TO DEDICATE TIME SLOTS TO EDUCATE THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Federal Communications Commission to require all television stations that broadcast in Hawaii to allocate time slots in their programs to broadcast public service announcements to educate the public on how to prepare for all disasters, natural and man-made, in Hawaii.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board, O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and Ho‘omana Pono, LLC.

Your Committees find that this measure will help improve access to disaster preparedness information, especially in situations where people lack access to the Internet.

However, your Committees have heard the concerns of the Disability and Communication Access Board that this measure fails to request adequate protections for persons who are blind, are deaf, or possess cognitive disabilities. Your Committees note that public service announcements sometimes do not have audio descriptions, open captions, sign language interpretation, or basic English messages that provide information identical to the information available to persons who are not blind, not deaf, and do not have cognitive disabilities.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Noting the importance of including access across various platforms for people with disabilities, including people who are blind, deaf, or hard of hearing, or who have cognitive disabilities; and

(2) Requesting that all public service announcements be made accessible to persons with disabilities and provide information that is equivalent to information accessible to persons without disabilities, and unobstructed by any other messages.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 13, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 13, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair