SB2834 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that transparency and accountability are critical to ensuring public agencies are effective, efficient, and successfully provide services in the public interest. The legislature further finds that departments of transportation throughout the country typically spend more than any other state agency on public infrastructure. As a result, most departments of transportation throughout the country have mechanisms such as oversight commissions and requirements for robust reporting to ensure public transparency and accountability for the billions of dollars they spend. This enables elected leaders and the public to evaluate and track transportation projects and ensure they successfully achieve state goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The legislature further finds that no commission currently exists in Hawaii to provide meaningful transparency and accountability regarding transportation efforts. There is also no public means of evaluating proposed or ongoing projects to determine if or how much they will help change outcomes. There are few readily available metrics to track whether overall progress is being made toward many state transportation goals. In some cases, planned projects are projected to reverse progress toward some state goals.

Hawaii has among the worst traffic fatality rates in the country, including the worst senior citizen pedestrian fatality rate. Hawaii also has among the worst traffic congestion in the country, and among the highest cost of transportation, which greatly increases the cost of living for residents. Unfortunately, Hawaii has held these distinctions for some time with little change.

The purpose of this Act is to help improve transportation outcomes by enabling basic transparency and accountability for transportation efforts by:

(1) Amending the duties and membership of the state highway safety council and renaming it the transportation safety and modernization council to help ensure that the department of transportation achieves state goals and outcomes; and

(2) Improving reporting to provide better transparency to elected leaders and the public.

SECTION 2. Section 286-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-5 [~~State highway~~] Transportation safety and modernization council. (a) There is established the [~~Hawaii highway~~] transportation safety and modernization council. The director of transportation shall serve as its chairperson. The following or their designated representatives shall be members of the council: the chief justice, the attorney general, the director of health, the superintendent of education, the [~~president~~] chair of the University of Hawaii[,] at Manoa department of urban and regional planning, the co-chairs of the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission, the director of the office of planning and sustainable development, the executive director of the State energy office, the chair of the senate standing committee with jurisdiction over transportation, the member of the senate with jurisdiction over capital improvement projects, the chair of the house of representatives standing committee with jurisdiction over transportation, the member of the house of representatives with jurisdiction over capital improvement projects, the chairperson of each of the county highway safety councils established under section 286-6, and not more than [~~twenty~~] ten other persons who shall be appointed by the governor for a three-year term as follows:

(1) One member from an organization representing senior citizens;

(2) One member from an organization representing bicyclists;

(3) One member from an organization with a focus on urban planning;

(4) One member from an organization with a focus on transportation, planning, and improvement;

(5) One member from an organization that serves low-income communities;

(6) One member from an organization representing labor and construction;

(7) One member from an organization representing trucking and cargo carriers; and

(8) Up to three members on the basis of their interest in [~~highway~~] transportation safety[.] and modernization.

The [~~state highway~~] transportation safety and modernization council shall [~~advise~~]:

(1) Provide direction to help the department of transportation achieve progress toward ground transportation, safety, modernization, and other state goals;

(2) Establish metrics and benchmarks, and regular reporting to help the department of transportation achieve state goals; and

(3) Advise the governor, legislature, and public on matters relating to the programs [~~and~~], activities, and of the State in the field of [~~highway~~] transportation safety[.] and modernization.

(b) The department of transportation shall provide information on ground transportation plans, projects, and any other relevant information to the transportation safety and modernization council.

(c) The members of the council shall serve without pay but shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses while attending meetings and while in discharge of their duties."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2834
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII