STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2687

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2834

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2834 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the Transportation Improvement and Modernization Commission to help ensure the Department of Transportation achieves state goals and outcomes while improving reporting to provide better transparency for elected leaders and the public.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Ulupono Initiative, Hawaii Bicycling League, Bikeshare Hawaii, and Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaii State Energy Office, and Hawaii Transportation Association.

Your Committee finds that transparency and accountability are critical to ensuring public agencies are effective, efficient, and successfully provide services in the public interest. However, there is no current reliable and readily available metric to track how much overall progress is being made on the statewide goals for the Department of Transportation. Some planned projects are even projected to be contrary to achieving certain policy goals. This measure improves transparency and accountability to help ensure the Department of Transportation progresses towards meeting its goals by improving reporting to elected leaders and the public.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the duties and membership of the State Highway Safety Council and renaming it to the Transportation Safety and Modernization Council; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2834, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2834, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair