THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

968

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

S.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the single fastest growing contributor to an increasing cost of living in Hawaii is the rising cost of transportation.  Due to increasingly expensive fossil fuels and a lack of cheaper transit options, Hawaii residents already pay among the highest costs to commute in the country.  In January 2022, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that auto-related costs were an astonishing twenty-three per cent higher in December 2021 than a year earlier, accelerating a trend of increasing transit costs contributing to Hawaii's rising cost of living.

     The legislature further finds that numerous public employees commute to work by car and must pay for parking at their workplaces.  However, public employees wishing to split the cost of sharing a single stall while carpooling in different cars on different days are currently prohibited by the department of accounting and general services from doing so.  Many people are also opting to drive electric vehicles, which are significantly cheaper to operate and maintain than gas-powered vehicles, and many major manufacturers have already committed to cease the production and sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2030 and 2035, respectively.  However, infrastructure for charging those vehicles in the workplace does not exist.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Help reduce the cost of living and cost of transportation for public employees by enabling parking stall sharing between employees; and

     (2)  Require the department of accounting and general services to conduct a study to determine the demand for, and feasibility and costs of, installing electric vehicle charging stations at newly constructed state employee and public parking facilities and retrofitting existing state employee and public parking facilities to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding one new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§27-     Public employee parking facilities.  The department of accounting and general services, in collaboration with the department of transportation, shall develop, implement, administer, and manage separate programs to allow two or more public employees of the State to share the cost of a parking stall and allow multiple cars to use that stall as appropriate; provided that the total cost for sharing a parking stall between two or more employees shall not exceed the cost of any one stall for any one employee."

     SECTION 3.  The department of accounting and general services, in collaboration with the state energy office, office of planning and sustainable development, and all state agencies that administer state employee and public parking facilities, shall conduct a study to determine the demand for, and feasibility and costs of, installing electric vehicle charging stations at newly constructed state employee and public parking facilities and retrofitting existing state employee and public parking facilities to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations.  The department of accounting and general services may consult with any public utility necessary to complete the study.

The department of accounting and general services shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2024.

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on June 30, 3000.

 

 

Report Title:

DAGS; DOT; Parking Stall Sharing; Electric Vehicle Charging Stations; Public Employee Parking; Study

 

Description:

Requires the department of accounting and general services to collaborate with the department of transportation to develop, implement, administer, and manage programs to enable parking stall sharing among public employees of the State.  Requires the department of accounting and general services to conduct a study to determine the demand for, and feasibility and costs of, installing electric vehicle charging stations at newly constructed state employee and public parking facilities and retrofitting existing state employee and public parking facilities to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations.  Effective 6/30/3000.  (HD1)

 

 

 

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