STAND. COM. REP. NO. 819

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1327

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1327 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC FILING BY THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Public Utilities Commission to use electronic filing processes, including electronic service of documents, to conform to the provisions of chapters 269 (Public Utilities Commission), 271 (Motor Carriers), and 271G (Water Carriers), Hawaii Revised Statutes, and current practices.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Public Utilities Commission; Young Brothers, LLC; and Hawaiian Telcom, Inc.

Your Committee finds that various provisions in chapters 269 (Public Utilities Commission), 271 (Motor Carriers), and 271G (Water Carriers), Hawaii Revised Statutes, require the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to employ hard copy service or filing. Hard copy filings to the PUC are often very lengthy, sometimes exceeding ten thousand pages and filling ten to fifteen boxes. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, temporary emergency orders were issued to allow for all electronic filings to the PUC. As a result, the PUC's filing process became dramatically streamlined and efficient, enhanced the regulatory process, and created better outcomes for the PUC and its staff, as well as stakeholders, regulated utilities, and the general public. Accordingly, this measure makes those operational improvements permanent.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1327, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1327, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair