STAND. COM. REP. NO.  459-18

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2018

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2236

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2236 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to create a new entity to unite services and opportunities under a single regulatory body and to ensure people of Hawaii are afforded equitable access to connectivity in all parts of the State by:

 

     (1)  Transferring to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) jurisdiction over cable TV and the Broadband Assistance Advisory Council from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and telecommunications carriers from the Public Utilities Commission;

 

     (2)  Establishing the position of a commissioner of telecommunications;

 

     (3)  Creating a special fund in DBEDT for cable TV and telecommunications carriers; and

 

     (4)  Requiring the Broadband Assistance Advisory Council to advise the Director of DBEDT on broadband deployment.

 

     Hawaiian Telcom opposed this measure.  The Department of Budget and Finance, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs offered comments.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to January 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2236, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2236, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair