STAND. COM. REP. NO. 236

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1411

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 1411 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TOXICOLOGY TESTING LABORATORY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Specify that funds in the State Highway Fund may be expended for the cost of establishing and maintaining a drug and alcohol toxicology testing laboratory;

 

     (2)  Specify that the Department of Transportation is required to administer, with the Department of Health or the City and County of Honolulu expending funds in the State Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Special Fund;

 

     (3)  Amend references to the State Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Laboratory Special Fund;

 

     (4)  Authorize the Department of Health or City and County of Honolulu to expend funds from the Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Special Fund for the establishment and maintenance of a drug and alcohol toxicology and testing laboratory; and

 

     (5)  Appropriate funds.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Hawaii Police Department, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that Act 196, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, established the State Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Laboratory Special Fund to support a state drug and alcohol toxicology testing laboratory.  While Act 119, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, appropriated funds from the State Highway Fund to the State Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Laboratory Special Fund, there is an immediate and urgent need for blood alcohol testing that cannot be entirely fulfilled by the Department of Health.  Although the City and County of Honolulu Emergency Services Department has the capability to conduct blood alcohol testing for all counties, further resources are needed to prevent a backlog of testing while keeping Hawaii's communities safe.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Replacing the Department of Health with the Department of Transportation as the expending agency of the Drug and Alcohol Toxicology Testing Laboratory Special Fund;

 

     (2)  Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1411, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1411, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.


 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

 

 

 

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair