STAND. COM. REP. NO. 732-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2031

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2031, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the Administrative Hearings Division within the Department of Transportation and transfer certain administrative powers to the Administrative Hearings Division, including matters related to transportation network company permit appeals, automated red light camera and speed enforcement traffic citations, and commercial driver's license appeals.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Transportation has supervisory authority over many different matters, including transportation network company permit appeals, automated red light camera and speed enforcement traffic citations, and commercial driver's license appeals. By centralizing these hearings within the Department of Transportation, this measure promotes consistency, efficiency, and subject-matter expertise in resolving transportation-related cases.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Authorizing the Director of Transportation to adopt rules to implement the Administrative Hearings Division;

(2) Clarifying the administrative hearings process for transportation network companies;

(3) Amending the appeals process under the Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program and Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program;

(4) Deleting language that established administrative hearings provisions under the Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program and Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program;

(5) Clarifying the penalties for violations initiated by the Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program;

(6) Repealing language requiring the expenditure of funds in the Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program Special Fund and Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program Special Fund in the county in which the fine was imposed;

(7) Deleting language that authorized the Department of Transportation to set the penalties for disregarding a steady red signal initiated by the use of a Photo Red Light Imaging Detector System;

(8) Appropriating funds out of the State Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation for the establishment of the Administrative Hearings Division;

(9) Inserting a savings clause;

(10) Deleting language that delayed implementation of the Administrative Hearings Division by two years; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2031, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2031, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair