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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  CALLING FOR A TASK FORCE AND REQUESTING A STUDY TO REVIEW THE
    FISCAL NEEDS OF THE STATE HIGHWAY FUND AND REPORT ON
    DEVELOPING A REVENUE PLAN FOR THE HIGHWAYS DIVISION.



 1        WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation, Highways
 2   Division will have transferred approximately $99,000,000 from
 3   the State Highway Fund to the General Fund from fiscal year
 4   1995-1996 to fiscal year 1998-1999; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the Highways Division has lengthened it's ten-
 7   year cycle road maintenance resurfacing program to a thirteen-
 8   year cycle program due to reductions in the maintenance program
 9   budget; and
10   
11        WHEREAS, state roads will continue to deteriorate and the
12   costs to maintain state roads will increase due to the
13   lengthening of the maintenance cycle; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, Hawaii's bridges are the second worst in the
16   nation with fifty-one per cent of the bridges in the State of
17   Hawaii in need of repair or replacement because they are either
18   structurally deficient or functionally obsolete; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, with the federal Intermodal Surface
21   Transportation Efficiency Act(ISTEA) and the new Transportation
22   Efficiency Act (TEA 21) programs, there are more agencies
23   competing for limited federal funds and the Highways Division
24   is getting a smaller percentage of federal dollars than in
25   previous years; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, the Highways Division must maintain a sufficient
28   fund balance in the state highway fund for cash flow purposes
29   to provide advance funding for the federal-aid reimbursement
30   program; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, the last increase in the state liquid fuel tax,
33   state motor vehicle registration fee, and the state vehicle
34   weight tax, and the establishment of the rental motor vehicle
35   and tour vehicle surcharge tax occurred in 1991 under Act 263,

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        


 1   Session Laws of Hawaii 1991; now, therefore
 2   
 3        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 4   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
 5   Representatives concurring, that the Department of
 6   Transportation is requested to convene a task force to review
 7   the fiscal needs of the state highway fund relative to its
 8   ability to meet planned operating and capital improvement
 9   expenditure requirements; and to develop a revue plan that will
10   maintain the solvency of the fund through the six-year planning
11   period in an efficient and equitable manner; and
12   
13        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force shall include
14   the Director of Transportation as chair; the President of the
15   Hawaii Automotive Retail Gasoline Dealers Association; the
16   Chair of OMPO's Citizen Advisory Commission; the Managing
17   Director of the Hawaii Transportation Association; the Director
18   of Department of Taxation; the Executive Director of the Tax
19   Foundation of Hawaii; the Chairperson of the House of
20   Representatives Committee on Transportation; the Vice-President
21   and Chief Economist of the Bank of Hawaii; the President of the
22   Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; the Chairperson of the Senate
23   Committee on Transportation and Intergovernmental Affairs; the
24   Chairperson of the Commission on Transportation; the
25   Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on
26   Finance; the Director of Finance; the Executive Director of the
27   Construction Industry Legislative Organization; the Director of
28   Business, Economic Development and Tourism; and the Co-Chairs
29   of the Senate Ways and Means Committee; and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force submit its
32   findings, report, and recommendations twenty days prior to the
33   convening of the Twentieth Legislature, Regular Session of
34   2000; and
35   
36        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
37   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of
38   Transportation, the President of the Hawaii automotive Retail
39   Gasoline Dealers Association, the Chair of OMPO's Citizen
40   Advisory Commission, the Managing Director of the Hawaii
41   Transportation Association, the Director of Taxation, the
42   Executive director of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, the

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        


 1   Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on
 2   Transportation, the Vice-President and Chief Economist of the
 3   Bank of Hawaii, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of
 4   Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on
 5   Transportation and Intergovernmental Affairs, the Chairperson
 6   of the Commission on Transportation, the Chairperson of the
 7   House of Representatives Committee on Finance, the Director of
 8   the Department of Budget and Finance, the Executive Director of
 9   the Construction Industry Legislative Organization, the
10   Director of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and the
11   Co-Chairs of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

 
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