Report Title:

Division of Consumer Advocacy; Restructuring

 

Description:

Restructures the Division of Consumer Advocacy, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Appropriates funds for additional operating costs, including additional positions to improve the operations of the Division.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1004

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

relating to consumer advocacy.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  Progressive energy policy-making on the state level is one of the most important issues on the legislative agenda.  Regulatory reform, specifically in the public utilities commission and the division of consumer advocacy of the department of commerce and consumer affairs, is essential to the successful implementation of recent and future energy policy reform.  Recent legislation relies on professional staff in the agencies to use their skills and experience in various areas relating to public utilities to research, analyze, examine, and process legislative mandates.

     The current organization of the division of consumer advocacy has not kept up with the recent changes made by legislation in the regulatory conditions, duties, and requirements of the division, diminishing its ability to perform effectively in the following ways:

     (1)  Difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified                  individuals to fill specialized positions that require        skills and experience that involve the performance of            certain functions;

     (2)  Specialized job requirements that do not correspond

          with existing position descriptions and

          classifications;

     (3)  Bureaucratic obstacles in changing existing position

          descriptions and classifications;

     (4)  Salaries that are substantially below mainland agency              or private sector equivalents, especially considering

          the demanding and arduous job requirements; and

     (5)  Agency organizational structures that are archaic and              unsupportive of efficient work flow or the matching of        human resources to the required tasks.

     Act 143, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, was passed to obtain an in-depth review of the division of consumer advocacy's organization and to develop a comprehensive plan to effectively restructure and supplement the division and its resources to function more effectively and efficiently.  A report was submitted to the legislature in December 2006 by the division, specifying, as requested, the specific types and numbers of positions, and the amounts necessary to restructure the division and supplement its resources. 

     The purpose of this Act is to enhance the ability of the division of consumer advocacy to carry out its duties and responsibilities by:

     (1)  Requiring the division to restructure its operations               pursuant to the division's December 2006, report to           the legislature to improve its effectiveness and

          efficiency; and

     (2)  Appropriating funds to meet the costs incurred as a            result of the restructuring process.

      SECTION 2.  (a)  The division of consumer advocacy, department of commerce and consumer affairs shall restructure its operations as provided for in the division's report to the legislature required pursuant to Act 143, Session Laws of Hawaii, 2006.

     (b)  The restructuring shall include the following:

     (1)  The existing financial analysis branch shall be renamed the regulatory analysis branch, and house the integrated resource planning analyst, telecommunications analyst, and four auditor positions, which shall be redescribed as researcher analysts and conduct research and analysis in rate case and other proceedings and research new developments in utility regulation;

     (2)  The new regulatory analysis branch shall be expanded to add two additional exempt positions for researcher analysts;

     (3)  The existing economics and pricing branch shall be renamed the rate analysis branch, and the economist and research staticians shall be redescribed as utility rate analysts, who will review applications for rate increases and tariff or rule amendments;

     (4)  Both the new regulatory analysis and rate analysis branches shall be supervised by a branch chief within the same class as the analysts and researchers within their respective branches to aid recruitment and retention efforts, ensure job satisfaction and personal growth, and encourage upward mobility within the branches; and

     (5)  Professional staff shall be encouraged to participate in staff training seminars to obtain a general understanding of the subject matter and receive regular updates to regulatory conditions.

     (c)  Upon request by the division of consumer advocacy, all other state and county agencies shall assist the division in carrying out the provisions of this Act.  The departments of human resources development and budget and finance shall continue to work cooperatively with the division as is deemed necessary by the division, to:

     (1)  Rename or redescribe job descriptions;

     (2)  More closely correlate the actual work of the                  professional staff with the types of positions                within the division; and

     (3)  Provide those positions with, where reasonable                 and equitable, more compensation to attract                        qualified applicants to the division.

     SECTION 3.  Section 269-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§269-52  Division of consumer advocacy; personnel.  There shall be a division of consumer advocacy within the department of commerce and consumer affairs to provide administrative support to the director of commerce and consumer affairs acting in the capacity of consumer advocate.  The director may employ and at pleasure dismiss an executive administrator, who shall be exempt from chapter 76, may define the executive administrator's powers and duties, and fix the executive administrator's compensation.  The director may employ engineers, accountants, investigators, clerks, and stenographers as may be necessary for the performance of the consumer advocate's functions, in accordance with chapter 76; provided that:

     (1)  The director may employ up to [four utility] ten researcher analysts exempt from chapter 76; and

     (2)  Each analyst shall possess at least the minimum qualifications required of comparable experts in the relevant industry."

     SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $168,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008 and $168,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 to pay for restructuring expenses, including the addition of two FTE researcher analyst positions, specified in section 2 of this Act.   

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $     or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008 and

$     or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for professional staff to attend specialized training seminars to obtain a general understanding of the subject matter and to receive regular updates of regulatory condition changes.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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