Report Title:
Driver education
Description:
Provides tax relief for families forced to use a third party provider of driver education programs and behind-the-wheel driver training courses due to lack of available public education resources. Provides funding for additional drivers education teachers in public schools. Provides an exception for smaller counties if tax relief or funding is unavailable for smaller counties.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1334 |
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TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO GOVERNMENT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. In 1999, the legislature passed Act 175, which mandated that drivers license applicants under the age of eighteen were required to complete a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation. In the years since the passage of Act 175, the legislature has received anecdotal evidence of numerous applicants forced to forego a driver's license because of understaffed school driver education programs, especially in smaller counties.
While the public safety aspect of requiring a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course for younger applicants cannot be ignored, neither can the burden created by these mandated programs. The purpose of this Act is to create alternatives to relieve the burden on those that cannot afford these mandates or cannot meet the mandates due to a lack of public resources dedicated to providing the programs.
SECTION 2. Chapter 235, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§235- Deduction; driver education programs and behind-the-wheel driver training course. (a) In addition to the deductions allowed under section 235-7, in computing taxable income, there shall be allowed as a deduction from gross income any amounts that are used by any state resident for the cost of a driver education program or a behind-the-wheel driver training course.
(b) A taxpayer who qualifies for the deduction may claim up to an amount equal to the cost of a privately provided driver education program or a behind-the-wheel driver training course for the taxable year in which the taxpayer incurred the cost of the program or course.
(c) Every claim, including amended claims, for a tax deduction under this section shall be filed on or before the end of the twelfth month following the close of the taxable year for which the deduction may be claimed. Failure to comply with the foregoing provision shall constitute a waiver of the right to claim the deduction.
(d) No taxpayer that claims a deduction under this section shall claim any other deduction for the same qualified costs under any chapter.
(e) The deduction allowed under this section shall be allowed to a taxpayer who is a parent, legal guardian, or sibling of a person who takes a privately provided driver education program or a behind-the-wheel driver training course and incurs the cost of the program or course. The deduction shall be allowed only if there is a lack of available space in publicly provided driver education programs or behind-the-wheel driver training courses certified by the director of transportation and only if the person taking the privately provided driver education program or behind-the-wheel driver training course completes and passes the program or course.
(f) The director of taxation shall prepare any forms that may be necessary to claim a deduction under this section. The director may also require the taxpayer to furnish information to ascertain the validity of the claims for deduction made under this section and may adopt rules necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section pursuant to chapter 91."
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $________, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, for the hiring of additional driver education program and behind-the-wheel driver training course teachers for public high schools located in counties with a population less than 200,000.
SECTION 4. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 5. Section 286-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§286-108 Examination of applicants. (a) Except as provided in section 286-107.5(a), the examiner of drivers shall examine every applicant for a driver's license, except as otherwise provided in this part. The examination shall include a test of:
(1) The applicant's eyesight and any further physical examination that the examiner of drivers finds necessary to determine the applicant's fitness to operate a motor vehicle safely upon the highways;
(2) The applicant's ability to understand highway signs regulating, warning, and directing traffic;
(3) The applicant's knowledge of the rules of the road based on the traffic laws of the State and the traffic ordinances of the county where the applicant resides or intends to operate a motor vehicle; and
(4) The actual demonstration of ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle.
The examinations shall be appropriate to the operation of the category of motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be licensed and shall be conducted as required by the director.
The examiner of drivers shall require every applicant to comply with section 286-102.5.
The examiner of drivers may waive the actual demonstration of ability to operate a motorcycle or motor scooter for any person who furnishes evidence, to the satisfaction of the examiner of drivers, that the person has completed the motorcycle education course approved by the director in accordance with section 431:10G-104.
At the time of examination, an application for voter registration by mail shall be made available to every applicant for a driver's license.
For the purposes of this section, the term "applicant" does not include any person reactivating a license under section 286-107.5(a).
(b) The examiner of drivers shall require proof from every applicant under the age of eighteen that the applicant has completed a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation. The examiner of drivers shall not examine any applicant for a driver's license who is sixteen through seventeen years of age unless the applicant holds a valid instruction permit under section 286-110, for a period of no fewer than ninety days. If the applicant's instruction permit has expired and a new instruction permit was issued within thirty days of its expiration, the examiner of drivers may examine the applicant without requiring an additional ninety-day period.
(c) The examiner of drivers may waive the actual demonstration of ability to operate a motor vehicle for any person who is at least eighteen years of age and who possesses a valid driver's license issued to the applicant in any other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, a province of the Dominion of Canada, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for the operation of vehicles in categories 1 through 3 of section 286-102.
(d) As part of the examination required by this section, the applicant for a driver's license shall produce and display a valid motor vehicle or liability insurance identification card for the motor vehicle required by sections 431:10C-107 and 431:10G-106, when the applicant demonstrates the ability to operate a motor vehicle to the satisfaction of the examiner of drivers. If no valid motor vehicle or liability insurance identification card is displayed, the examiner of drivers shall not issue a driver's license to the applicant.
(e) The requirements of subsection (b), with respect to completion of that the a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation for applicants under the age of eighteen, shall be waived for applicants residing in counties with populations less than 200,000 if the applicant can show that the reason for failing to meet the requirements are due to a lack of space in public and private driver education programs or behind-the wheel driver training courses certified by the director of transportation."
SECTION 6. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003, provided that section 5 shall be repealed upon passage of either sections 2 or sections 3 and 4 in any form passed by the legislature, Regular Session of 2003.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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