STAND. COM. REP. NO. 43

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1084

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1084 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS ON THE INTERNET,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to broadcast legislative proceedings via the Internet.

 

     Your Committee received supporting testimonies from Life of the Land, the League of Women Voters, and the President and CEO of Olelo Community Television.

 

     Your Committee finds that televised coverage of legislative sessions and hearings is critical to maintaining an informed electorate in a democratic society.  Coverage of legislative proceedings, however, are limited to brief news reports by local television stations and limited coverage by local cable television channels that are available only to paying cable viewers at certain broadcast times.  Your Committee further finds that thousands of homes across the State could access proceedings of the legislature using the Internet, thus expanding public access to the legislative process.

 

      Current computer technology called streaming media or webcasting allows the transmission of video and audio signals over the Internet to all islands and beyond, and recordings of live webcasts can be archived so that users can listen to or view a file at their leisure.  The streaming media or webcasting programs can also be accessed wherever computers are available, such as public libraries, schools, youth centers, and other public places.

 

     Your Committee has amended the measure by deleting the phrase "section centers" on page 2, lines 14, and 15 for purposes of clarity and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1084, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1084, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair