STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1575

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2019

RE: S.B. No. 331

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 331, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOVIE THEATERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Make permanent the requirement that certain motion picture theater owners and operators provide open movie captioning;

(2) Specify that open captioning shall be provided during at least two showings per week, including at least one showing per week that features open movie captioning on a Saturday or Sunday; and

(3) Repeal the option of providing personal closed captioning by means of lightweight eyewear to satisfy the captioning requirement.

The Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission, Office of Language Access, Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Aloha State Association of the Deaf, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaii Interpreting Services, and several individuals testified in support of this measure. The National Association of Theatre Owners testified in opposition to this measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 331, H.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair