STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1461

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

 

RE:   S.B. No. 1823

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Tourism & Culture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1823, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to revise the appointment process and qualifications of members to the Board of Directors (Board) of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) by, among other things:

 

     (1)  Reducing from 12 to two, the number of public, voting members appointed by the Governor and requiring one of the two members to have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of Hawaiian cultural practices;

 

     (2)  Specifying that one public voting member shall be nominated separately and, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed separately by each mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, County of Hawaii, County of Kauai, and Maui, and requiring the members to have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of visitor industry management, marketing, promotion, transportation, retail, entertainment, or visitor attractions;

 

     (3)  Repealing existing procedures that require the Governor to appoint six public voting members from lists of names submitted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker) and the Senate President;

 

     (4)  Establishing that three public voting members be appointed by the Speaker and three public voting members be appointed by the Senate President; provided that:

 

          (A)  Half of the members shall have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of visitor industry management, marketing, promotion, transportation, retail, entertainment, or visitor attractions; and

 

          (B)  Appointments by the Speaker and Senate President are made by adoption of a concurrent resolution by a majority of members of each house;

 

     (5)  Establishing procedures for filling certain vacancies when the Legislature is not in session; and

 

     (6)  Establishing a transitional schedule for implementation of the appointments under this bill.

 

     Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association did not support this bill.  The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and Starwood Hotel & Resorts opposed this measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the provision that half of the public, voting members appointed by the Senate President and Speaker have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of visitor industry management, marketing, promotion, transportation, retail, entertainment, or visitor attractions;

 

     (2)  Requiring that one of the three public, voting members appointed by the Speaker and Senate President shall have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of visitor industry management, marketing, promotion, transportation, retail, entertainment, or visitor attractions;

 

     (3)  Changing its effective date to January 1, 2025, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism & Culture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1823, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1823, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism & Culture,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair