STAND. COM. REP. NO. 622

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1658

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 1658 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRAFFIC,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Transfer to the Department of Transportation one hundred percent of the proceeds of the fines and forfeitures collected for uncontested traffic infractions committed within any county having a population of more than one hundred fifty thousand but less than one hundred seventy-five thousand; and

(2) Require the proceeds to be deposited into a new county progress subaccount of the State Highway Fund, from which the Department shall allocate moneys for the Lahaina Bypass North Project, and subsequently for state-designated critical highway projects within the county in which the uncontested traffic infractions were committed.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and Department of Transportation.

Your Committee finds that the Lahaina Bypass North is a critical infrastructure project for the State, specifically serving the communities of West Maui. The bypass is vital for improving traffic flow, supporting emergency response, and providing alternative access routes, especially in the wake of recent wildfires that have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the region's transportation network. This measure will facilitate additional funding for this important capital improvement project by requiring the proceeds of the fines and forfeitures collected for uncontested traffic infractions in certain counties to be deposited into a new progress subaccount of the State Highway Fund, from which the Department of Transportation shall allocate funds for the Lahaina Bypass North Project.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; 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 and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1658, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1658, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair