Report Title:

Department of Tourism; Establishment

 

Description:

Creates a new department of tourism to assume the tourism-related functions of the department of business, economic development, and tourism.  Effective 7/1/2010.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

158

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

relating to department of tourism.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

     §   ‑1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter:

     "Authority" means the Hawaii tourism authority.

     "Board" means the board of directors of the Hawaii tourism authority.

     "Department" means the department of tourism.

     "Director" means the director of tourism.

     §   ‑2  Functions and duties of the department.  The department shall maintain a program of research and statistics for the purpose of:

     (1)  Measuring and analyzing tourism trends;

     (2)  Providing information and research to assist in the development and implementation of state tourism policy;

     (3)  Encouraging and arranging for the conduct of tourism research and information development through voluntary means or through contractual services with qualified agencies, firms, or persons; and

     (4)  Providing tourism information to policy makers, the public, and the visitor industry.  This includes:

         (A)  Collecting and publishing visitor-related data including visitor arrivals, visitor characteristics, and visitor expenditures;

         (B)  Collecting and publishing hotel-related statistics including the number of units available, occupancy rates, and room rates;

         (C)  Collecting and publishing airline-related data including seat capacity and number of flights;

         (D)  Collecting information and conducting analyses of the economic, social, and physical impacts of tourism on the State;

         (E)  Conducting periodic studies of the impact of ongoing marketing programs of the Hawaii tourism authority on Hawaii's tourism industry, employment in Hawaii, state taxes, and the State's lesser known and underutilized destinations; and

         (F)  Cooperate with the Hawaii tourism authority and provide it with the information prescribed in this section in a timely manner."

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§26‑     Department of tourism.  (a)  The department of tourism shall be headed by a single executive to be known as the director of tourism.

     (b)  The department shall cooperate with and support the operations of the Hawaii tourism authority established under chapter 201B."

     SECTION 3.  Section 26-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§26-4  Structure of government.  Under the supervision of the governor, all executive and administrative offices, departments, and instrumentalities of the state government and their respective functions, powers, and duties shall be allocated among and within the following principal departments that are hereby established:

     (1)  Department of human resources development (Section 26‑5);

     (2)  Department of accounting and general services (Section 26-6);

     (3)  Department of the attorney general (Section 26-7);

     (4)  Department of budget and finance (Section 26-8);

     (5)  Department of commerce and consumer affairs (Section 26-9);

     (6)  Department of taxation (Section 26-10);

     (7)  University of Hawaii  (Section 26-11);

     (8)  Department of education (Section 26-12);

     (9)  Department of health (Section 26-13);

    (10)  Department of human services (Section 26-14);

    (11)  Department of land and natural resources (Section 26-15);

    (12)  Department of agriculture (Section 26-16);

    (13)  Department of Hawaiian home lands (Section 26-17);

    (14)  Department of business[,] and economic development[, and tourism] (Section 26-18);

    (15)  Department of transportation (Section 26-19);

    (16)  Department of labor and industrial relations (Section 26-20);

    (17)  Department of defense (Section 26-21);

    (18)  Department of public safety (Section 26-14.6)[.]; and

    (19)  Department of tourism (section 26-   )."

     SECTION 4.  Chapter 201, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending its title to read as follows:

"CHAPTER 201

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS[,] AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT[,

AND TOURISM]"

     SECTION 5.  Section 201-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§201-3  Specific research and promotional functions of the department.  Without prejudice to its general functions and duties the department of business[,] and economic development[, and tourism] shall have specific functions in the following areas:

     (1)  Industrial development.  The department shall determine through technical and economic surveys the profit potential of new or expanded industrial undertakings; develop through research projects and other means new and improved industrial products and processes; promote studies and surveys to determine consumer preference as to design and quality and to determine the best methods of packaging, transporting, and marketing the State's industrial products; disseminate information to assist the present industries of the State, to attract new industries to the State, and to encourage capital investment in present and new industries in the State; assist associations of producers and distributors of industrial products to introduce these products to consumers; and make grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

     (2)  Land development.  The department shall encourage the most productive use of all land in the State in accordance with a general plan developed by the department; encourage the improvement of land tenure practices on leased private lands; promote an informational program directed to landowners, producers of agricultural and industrial commodities, and the general public regarding the most efficient and most productive use of the lands in the State; and make grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

     (3)  Credit development.  The department shall conduct a continuing study of agricultural and industrial credit needs; encourage the development of additional private and public credit sources for agricultural and industrial enterprises; promote an informational program to acquaint financial institutions with agricultural and industrial credit needs and the potential for agricultural and industrial expansion, and inform producers of agricultural and industrial products as to the manner in which to qualify for loans; and make grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

     (4)  Promotion.  The department shall disseminate information developed for or by the department pertaining to economic development to assist present industry in the State, attract new industry and investments to the State, and assist new and emerging industry with good growth potential or prospects in jobs, exports, and new products.  The industrial and economic promotional activities of the department may include the use of literature, advertising, demonstrations, displays, market testing, lectures, travel, motion picture and slide films, and other promotional and publicity devices as may be appropriate; and

    [(5)  Tourism research and statistics.  The department shall maintain a program of research and statistics for the purpose of:

         (A)  Measuring and analyzing tourism trends;

         (B)  Providing information and research to assist in the development and implementation of state tourism policy;

         (C)  Encouraging and arranging for the conduct of tourism research and information development through voluntary means or through contractual services with qualified agencies, firms, or persons; and

         (D)  Providing tourism information to policy makers, the public, and the visitor industry.  This includes:

              (i)  Collecting and publishing visitor-related data including visitor arrivals, visitor characteristics and expenditures;

             (ii)  Collecting and publishing hotel-related statistics including the number of units available, occupancy rates, and room rates;

            (iii)  Collecting and publishing airline-related data including seat capacity and number of flights;

             (iv)  Collecting information and conducting analyses of the economic, social, and physical impacts of tourism on the State;

              (v)  Conducting periodic studies of the impact of ongoing marketing programs of the Hawaii tourism authority on Hawaii's tourism industry, employment in Hawaii, state taxes, and the State's lesser known and underutilized destinations; and

             (vi)  Cooperate with the Hawaii tourism authority and provide it with the above information in a timely manner; and

     (6)] (5)  Self-sufficiency standard.  The department shall establish and update biennially a self-sufficiency standard that shall incorporate existing methods of calculation, and shall reflect, at a minimum, costs relating to housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, clothing and household expenses, federal and state tax obligations, family size, children's ages, geography, and the number of household wage earners.  The department shall report to the legislature concerning the self-sufficiency standard no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009, and every odd-numbered year thereafter.  The recommendations shall address, among other things, the utilization of any federal funding that may be available for the purposes of establishing and updating the self-sufficiency standard.

     The department shall be the central agency to coordinate film permit activities in the State."

     SECTION 6.  Sections 10‑18, 23‑12, 26‑16, 26‑18, 48‑1, 48‑2, 48‑3, 48‑4, 48‑6, 103D‑903, 125C‑2, 125C‑31, 125C‑32, 128E‑2, 163D‑3, 171‑42, 174C‑5, 189‑21, 189‑42, 196‑1, 196‑3, 196‑10, 196‑41, 200D‑2, 201‑1, 201‑2, 201‑2.5, 201‑4, 201‑5, 201‑6, 201‑7, 201‑8, 201‑9, 201‑10, 201‑11, 201‑12.5, 201‑12.8, 201‑13, 201‑16, 201‑17, 201‑18, 201‑61, 201‑72, 201‑81, 201‑84, 201‑101.5, 201‑102, 201‑103, 201‑104, 201‑112, 201B‑2, 201C‑1, 201C‑2, 201C‑4, 201H‑2, 201H‑3, 201M‑5, 201N‑1, 201N‑4, 201N‑8, 202‑10, 205‑1, 205‑3.1, 205‑5.2, 205A‑62, 206E‑3, 206E‑32, 206E‑34, 206J‑4, 206J‑17, 206M‑2, 206M‑3, 206M‑15, 206M‑51, 209‑1, 209‑26, 209‑27, 209‑29, 209‑31, 209‑32, 209‑33, 209‑34, 209E‑2, 210‑1, 210‑2, 210‑4, 210‑6, 210‑7, 210‑8, 210D‑2, 210D‑5, 210D‑10, 210D‑11, 211D‑1, 211E‑1, 211E‑3,211E‑4, 211F‑2, 211F‑3, 212‑5.5, 212‑10, 213‑1, 213‑2, 225M‑1, 225M‑2, 225M‑3, 225M‑4, 227D‑2, 229‑2, 235‑17, 235‑110.3, 235‑110.46, 239‑11, 246‑12, 279A‑4, 279E‑2, 302A‑1314, 304A‑1892, 304A‑1893, 342G‑47, 342G‑48, 342G‑63, 342G‑64, 371‑17, 394‑9, 445‑112, 474‑4, 486J‑1, 486J‑5.3, 486J‑6, 486J‑7, 486J‑8, and 486J‑21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by replacing all references to:

     (1)  "Department of business, economic development, and tourism" with "department of business and economic development"; and

     (2)  "Director of business, economic development, and tourism" with "director of business and economic development",

as the context requires.

     SECTION 7.  All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the department of business, economic development, and tourism, with respect to tourism functions only, are transferred to the department of tourism.

     All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.

     No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and compensation laws.

     An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided that such officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed.

     If an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor.

     SECTION 8.  All rules, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other material adopted or developed by the department of business, economic development, and tourism with respect to the department of tourism shall remain in full force and effect until amended or repealed by the department of tourism pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  In the interim, every reference to the department of business, economic development, and tourism in those rules, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other material as they relate to the department of tourism is amended to refer to the department of tourism or the director of tourism, as appropriate.

     SECTION 9.  All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the department of business, economic development, and tourism relating to the functions transferred to the department of tourism shall be transferred with the functions to which they relate.

     SECTION 10.  It is the intent of this Act not to jeopardize the receipt of any federal aid nor to impair the obligation of the State or any agency thereof to the holders of any bond issued by the State or by any such agency, and to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to effectuate this intent, the governor may modify the strict provisions of this Act, but shall promptly report any such modification with reasons therefor to the legislature at its next session thereafter for review by the legislature.

     SECTION 11.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

     SECTION 12.  During the interim period before the 2010 legislative session, the governor shall prepare an organizational and functional plan for the orderly transition of the functions transferred by this Act.  The governor shall be assisted by a task force appointed by the governor consisting of representatives of the department of business, economic development, and tourism and the Hawaii tourism authority.  The organizational and functional plan shall be submitted to the legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 as part of the supplemental executive budget request.

     SECTION 13.  All acts passed during this regular session of 2009, whether enacted before or after the passage of this Act, shall be amended to conform to this Act unless these acts specifically provide that this Act is being amended.  Any amendment made by an Act of the regular session of 2009 to a law that is administered by the department of business, economic development, and tourism, and which is reenacted and made applicable to the department of tourism by this Act, shall be deemed to be an amendment to this Act.

     SECTION 14.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 15.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2010; provided that section 12 shall take effect upon approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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