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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
182 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
ESTABLISHING A JOINT HOUSE-SENATE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE gasoline prices and the role of the PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION REGARDING GASOLINE.
WHEREAS, except for recent market anomalies, it is undeniable that for decades Hawaii's consumers have been paying the highest pump-price for gasoline in the country; and
WHEREAS, for as many decades the State's petroleum industry has proffered a number of reasons for Hawaii's high gasoline prices, including the high cost of doing business in Hawaii, market forces, shipping cost, the nation's-highest-pump-price tax, and recently, Hawaii's oligopolistic gasoline market; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii motorists attribute the high prices to more sinister factors, such as a price fixing conspiracy and greed on the part of the local petroleum industry, that defy even plunging crude oil prices; and
WHEREAS, in an attempt to determine the underlying causes for high gasoline prices, the Legislature, through Act 257, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, authorized the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to gather, analyze, and interpret income, expenses, and profits relating to gasoline price, however, the analysis was never completed for a variety of reasons, including the failure of the Act to mandate the analysis; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, the State filed its antitrust action, Bronster v. Chevron, Civil No. 98-00792-SPK, United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, against the State's two refineries and major gasoline wholesalers alleging, among other counts, price fixing, prior false and inconsistent explanations, fraudulent concealment, and unfair trade practice; and
WHEREAS, the Bronster case recently settled without reaping any discernable benefits for Hawaii residents; and
WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission under the following definition of "public utilities" in section 269-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, does not regulate the petroleum industry:
"Public utility" includes every person who may own, control, operate, or manage as owner, lessee, trustee, receiver, or otherwise, whether under a franchise, charter, license, articles of association, or otherwise, any plant or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly for public use, for the transportation of passengers or freight, or the conveyance or transmission of telecommunications messages, or the furnishing of facilities for the transmission of intelligence by electricity by land or water or air within the State, or between points within the State, or for the production, conveyance, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of light, power, heat, cold, water, gas, or oil, or for the storage or warehousing of goods, or the disposal of sewage; provided that the term ..."; and
WHEREAS, while high gasoline prices directly impact the motoring public's pocketbook, its consequence of exporting much needed dollars to the out-of-state headquarters of the gasoline wholesalers and refineries devastates the whole state economy; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the public interest, health, safety, and welfare of the people of Hawaii, and the future development and economic security of the State mandate investigating the underlying causes of Hawaii's high gasoline prices and available remedial actions; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the Senate concurring, that:
(1) The Legislature hereby establishes a joint House-Senate investigative committee (joint investigative committee) pursuant to chapter 21, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), to investigate:
(A) The price of gasoline and the causes and effects thereof;
(B) The role of the Public Utilities Commission relating to the regulation of gasoline prices; and
(C) Any other matters reasonably related to the above or reasonably intended to mitigate the high gasoline prices imposed on Hawaii residents;
(2) The joint investigative committee shall be composed of 12 members, of which six shall be members of the State House of Representative, appointed by the Speaker of the House, and six shall be members of the State Senate, appointed by the Senate President;
(3) The purpose and the duties of the joint investigative committee and the subject matter and scope of its investigatory authority shall be to investigate, gather information, assess, and make recommendations to the Legislature concerning:
(A) The high price of gasoline in the State;
(B) The State's role in regulating the price of gasoline;
(C) The role of the Public Utilities Commission related to gasoline;
(D) Changes in or enactment of regulation of petroleum products, including gasoline; and
(E) How to provide relief from high gasoline prices to Hawaii residents;
(4) The joint investigative committee shall have every power and function allowed to an investigating committee by law, including without limitation the power to:
(A) Adopt rules for the conduct of its proceedings;
(B) Issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum requiring the production of books, documents, records, papers, or other evidence in any matter pending before the joint investigative committee;
(C) Hold hearings appropriate for the performance of its duties, at such times and places as the joint investigative committee determines;
(D) Administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses at hearings of the joint investigative committee;
(E) Report or certify instances of contempt as provided in Section 21-14, HRS;
(F) Employ professional, technical, clerical, or other staff and expend such funds appropriated for House of Representative and Senate operating expenses for 2002 as necessary for the proper performance of its duties; and
(G) Exercise all other powers specified under Chapter 21, HRS, with respect to the joint investigative committees;
(5) The joint investigative committee shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President exclusively from the membership of their respective bodies;
(6) The joint investigative committee shall provide by rule for the submission, by a witness’s own counsel and counsel for another individual or entity about whom the witness has devoted substantial or important portions of the witness’s testimony, of written questions to be asked of the witness by the Co-Chairs;
(7) The joint investigative committee shall provide by rule for the submission of proposed questions at a hearing in accordance with Section 21-11(b), HRS;
(8) The joint investigative committee shall provide by rule that each witness intended to be called be given ten days notice of (A) the date and time of the witness’s appearance, (B) a short plain statement of the areas to be inquired into with respect to that witness’s anticipated testimony, and (C) a list of or copies of the principal documents about which that witness may be questioned; provided that these requirements shall not limit the joint investigative committee’s discretion to inquire into related matters. The rule may provide that the Co-Chairs may waive the ten days notice if the witness so agrees;
(9) The joint investigative committee shall provide by rule that a draft report of the investigative committee’s findings and/or conclusions concerning any matter that is the subject of its hearings shall be made available to all those entities or persons who were the subjects of or who were witnesses who testified at any hearing. Any person or entity to whom a draft report is made available shall be given a period of no less than fourteen days within which to make written responses to the draft findings and/or conclusions. The written responses, if any, shall be included as an appendix to the final report of the joint investigative committee;
(10) The joint investigative committee is authorized to exercise its powers continuously throughout the 2002 Regular Session, the interim between the 2002 and 2003 Regular Sessions, and shall thereafter be dissolved unless further extended by the House of Representatives and the Senate; and
(11) The attorney general shall cooperate and assist the joint investigative committee in its purposes and duties; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President, from time to time, may refer to the joint investigative committee specific matters that are within the scope of the joint investigative committee’s jurisdiction, and that the joint investigative committee shall work in cooperation with the Speaker and President for the purposes stated in this Concurrent Resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint investigative committee shall submit its written findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, Governor, Director of Finance, and the Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission.
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OFFERED BY: |
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