Report Title:

Drivers Education; Fees

 

Description:

Increases the drivers education underwriters fee from $2 to $3.50 to provide an additional $1 to the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the benefit of the department of education and 50 cents to the department of transportation to operate and administer a mandatory driver education program for persons under the age of 18. (HB1730 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1730

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO DRIVERS EDUCATION FUND UNDERWRITERS FEE.

 

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

SECTION 1. In an effort to reduce teenage traffic injuries and deaths, the legislature, during the regular session of 1999, approved mandatory driver education for all persons under the age of eighteen wishing to obtain a class 1, 2, or 3 driver's license.

This law has created a demand for driver education classes in the department of education due to the low cost of the program. The department charges $10 for thirty hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind-the-wheel lessons. This compares to approximately $500 if the student takes driver education in the private sector.

Currently, the department of education receives $1 from the drivers education fund underwriters fee and serves approximately three thousand students statewide. By increasing this amount to $2, the department will be able to double its program, purchase new equipment, and serve approximately five thousand students a year.

The remaining fifty cents of the proposed fee increase will go to the department of transportation to administer the statewide driver education program, which includes certifying both department of education and commercial driving instructors, monitoring programs, conducting training, printing necessary certificates, holding seminars, and providing resources to instructors. The department of transportation received a two-year federal grant to implement the new program but has no funds to manage the program on an ongoing basis.

The purpose of this Act is to raise from $2 to $3.50 the drivers education fund underwriters fee on each motor vehicle insured by each insurer and to reallocate the fee among the insurance division, the department of commerce and consumer affairs, and the department of transportation.

SECTION 2. Section 431:10C-115, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) The commissioner shall assess and levy upon each insurer, and self-insurer, a drivers education fund underwriters fee of [$2] $3.50 a year on each motor vehicle insured by each insurer or self-insurer. This fee is due and payable on an annual basis by means and at a time to be determined by the commissioner."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) The commissioner shall allocate the fees deposited for each fiscal year in the following manner:

(1) [Fifty per cent] $1 per registration to the commissioner to be expended for the operation of the drivers education program provided in section 286-128(d); and

(2) [Fifty per cent] $2 per registration to the director of commerce and consumer affairs for:

(A) The drivers education program administered by the department of education for high school students; and

(B) The traffic safety education program established and administered by the department of education pursuant to section 302A-417[.]; and

(3) Fifty cents per registration to the department of transportation. The department of transportation is authorized to spend the amount collected from these fees for the purposes of this section."

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, 2002.