HCR113

WHEREAS, on September 13, 2021, pursuant to Order No. 2021‑15, the Safe Access Oahu program went into effect in the City and County of Honolulu to mitigate the high rate of COVID‑19 Delta variant infections on Oahu; and

WHEREAS, the Safe Access Oahu program requires all employees, contractors, and volunteers at businesses such as restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, arcades, and other similar establishments to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test result each week in order to operate; and

WHEREAS, the Safe Access Oahu program also requires all customers, except those twelve years of age or younger, to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within the previous forty-eight hours in order to enter the establishment; and

WHEREAS, the Safe Access Oahu program was to remain in effect for sixty days and cease on November 13, 2021; and

WHEREAS, on January 5, 2022, in response to the rise of infections from the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Mayor Rick Blangiardi issued Proclamation and Emergency Order No. 2022-01 (Order No. 2022-01), which retroactively extended the restrictions imposed by the Safe Access Oahu program through December 1, 2021; and

WHEREAS, the restrictions imposed by the Safe Access Oahu program are to continue through the sixty-day emergency period established by Order No. 2022-01 that began on January 5, 2022; and

WHEREAS, as of January 4, 2022, seventy-eight percent of the population of the City and County of Honolulu has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine; and

WHEREAS, small businesses have been one of the hardest-hit sectors amid the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, the Safe Access Oahu program has negatively impacted Oahu's small businesses; and

WHEREAS, a 2020 Yelp survey found that nine in every one thousand businesses in Hawaii have permanently closed, which is one of the highest rates in the United States, while in Honolulu, the figure was roughly eleven out of every one thousand businesses; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of Hawaii businesses were on the brink of closure during the early days of the pandemic and faced further setbacks as the result of the rise in COVID-19 variant infections; and

WHEREAS, the Safe Access Oahu program expired on March 5, 2022; and

WHEREAS, however, repeated extensions and retroactive application of the Safe Access Oahu program created confusion and placed undue burdens on local enterprises; and

WHEREAS, broad and indefinite extensions of emergency proclamations by the Mayor and Governor may be abused and can cause confusion and distrust amongst the public; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Governor and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu are requested to affirm the Safe Access Oahu program will not be unnecessarily extended beyond the March 5, 2022, sunset date; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Safe Access Oahu; Sunset Date; City and County of Honolulu

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	113
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII