STAND. COM. REP. NO 421

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1180

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1180 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal chapter 279E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and create a new chapter in the Hawaii Revised Statutes with revised requirements for metropolitan planning organizations to ensure compliance with federal law.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, Citizens Advisory Committee of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, and one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Office of Information Practices.

     Your Committees find that federal laws require that metropolitan planning organizations be designated based on a minimum population threshold as defined in federal law to act as a decision-making agency and to receive certain funds for the purpose of carrying out a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive transportation planning process.

     Your Committees further find that it is the responsibility of the policy board of the Metropolitan Planning Organization to make decisions that are the result of the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive transportation planning process, and the organization's staff support and provide technical resources to the policy board.  The continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process is designed to provide orderly and reasoned metropolitan transportation planning within the framework of federal law, and adequate and informed representation from state and county governments.

     Your Committees further find that existing state law conflicts with current federal transportation regulations.  This conflict needs to be rectified in order for the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization to maintain its federal Transportation Management Area certification.  According to testimony, the consequences of a de-certification by the federal government would be a withholding of up to twenty percent of federal surface transportation funds normally distributed to Oahu, or about $12,000,000 annually.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the Oahu metropolitan planning organization special fund and creating a metropolitan planning organization revolving fund for each metropolitan planning organization to accurately reflect the nature of the fund as continuously receiving and expending monies;

     (2)  Clarifying that:

          (A)  The metropolitan planning organization revolving fund may receive federal funds or grants;

          (B)  Funds in the metropolitan planning organization revolving fund for each county shall be expended by the applicable county for purposes of transportation planning in accordance with federal law;

          (C)  The metropolitan planning organization for a particular county may expend funds from their respective revolving fund without necessity of an appropriation; and

          (D)  Each metropolitan planning organization having a revolving fund shall report annually to the Legislature on a detailed accounting of the activities of their respective revolving fund for the previous year;

     (3)  Deleting the exemption for special fund reimbursements for departmental administrative expenses since the metropolitan planning organization revolving fund is no longer a special fund; and

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

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1180, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1180, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair