STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2695

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3361

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. 3361 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AIRPORTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the Airport Advisory Working Group in the Department of Transportation to advise on airport design and construction projects to prioritize user experience while reflecting local culture, environment, and the history of Hawaii.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Airport Concessionaires Committee. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Airlines Committee of Hawaii. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's airports ranked near the bottom in a J.D. Power 2021 customer satisfaction airport survey despite having spent hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations. This measure addresses problems facing Hawaii's airports by establishing the Airport Advisory Working Group in the Department of Transportation which will advise on construction projects to prioritize the user experience while preserving a design that reflects local culture and shares the narrative of Hawaii and its values.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the airport advisory working group shall advise the Department of Transportation Airports Division on how to improve airport planning and design at state international airports;

(2) Adjusting the membership of the working group to include the following:

(A) A member appointed by the President of the Senate, to serve a co-chairperson;

(B) A member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to serve as co-chairperson;

(C) One member representing labor or the construction trade; and

(D) One member representing commercial or retail airport concessions;

(3) Establishing one full-time equivalent conceptual architect position in the Department of Transportation to assist the working group;

(4) Appropriating an unspecified amount from the airport revenue fund, rather than from general funds, for establishment and operation of the working group;

(5) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(6) 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. 3361, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3361, 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,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair