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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE AIRPORT DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
    AND THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE TO WORK CLOSELY
    WITH AIR CARRIERS SERVING HAWAII TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO
    EFFECTIVELY REDUCE AIRPORT SYSTEM COSTS TO ACHIEVE LOW AND
    STABLE AIRPORT LANDING FEES, RATES, AND CHARGES.


 1        WHEREAS, Hawaii has a unique, single statewide airport
 2   system of seventeen airports maintained in large part by air
 3   carriers serving Hawaii that financially contribute to the
 4   statewide system, with Honolulu International Airport
 5   subsidizing the other sixteen airports; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, Hawaii's airport system and the air carriers,
 8   through landing fees, rentals, and airport concessions,
 9   contribute millions each year into the State's general fund and
10   into the self-sustaining Airport Revenue Fund from which all
11   airport construction projects, operations, and maintenance
12   needs are funded; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, the relationship between our State and air
15   carriers may be Hawaii's most important bilateral relationship
16   given the fact that Hawaii is the most isolated land mass in
17   the world, Hawaii's lack of alternative land-borne
18   transportation systems, Hawaii's heavy reliance on the visitor
19   industry, the interisland transportation needs of Hawaii's
20   visitors and residents, and the need for fast and efficient air
21   cargo capabilities feeding Hawaii's import and export needs;
22   and
23   
24        WHEREAS, in order to ensure available, noninterrupted
25   service to and from the State, Hawaii must maintain or increase
26   the number of flights and air carriers serving the State,
27   especially now when the airline industry is undergoing a
28   worldwide transformation that continually threatens the number
29   of flights and air carriers serving the State; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, air carriers normally make up any shortfall
32   between the airport system's revenues and expenses through
33   landing fees and other rates and charges; and
34   

 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
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 1        WHEREAS, the current duty free concessionaire that
 2   previously contributed in excess of $100,000,000 per year to
 3   the Airport Revenue Fund, has suffered decreases in revenue for
 4   the past several years resulting in a $49,500,000 duty free
 5   rental deferral plan for fiscal years 1997 and 1998; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the landing fee waiver granted by Governor
 8   Cayetano in September 1997 has had a favorable impact on the
 9   availability of air services to Hawaii and on the financial
10   health of Hawaii's interisland carriers, their employees, and
11   the residents and visitors they carry; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, the waiver of landing fees was made possible by
14   the application of $39,000,000, which eliminated the need to
15   assess any landing fees in fiscal year 1998, and in fiscal year
16   1999 another $41,000,000 will be applied to continue the
17   landing fee waiver; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, with the landing fee waiver set to expire on
20   August 31, 1999, alternatives to waiving the landing fee need
21   to be explored; and
22   
23        WHEREAS, Hawaii's air carriers are currently collaborating
24   with the State to facilitate a smoothly-operated and
25   efficiently-run airport system and are committed to working
26   with the Department of Transportation's Airports Division to
27   implement capital projects, and work through financial issues;
28   now, therefore,
29   
30        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
31   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
32   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the Department of
33   Transportation and the Department of Budget and Finance are
34   urged to work closely with the air carriers serving Hawaii to
35   develop strategies to effectively reduce airport system costs
36   to achieve low and stable airport landing fees, rates, and
37   charges; and
38   
39        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Budget and
40   Finance and the Department of Transportation are requested to
41   report their findings and recommendations to the Legislature no
42   later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular

 
 
 
 
 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        


 1   Session of 2000; and
 2   
 3        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 4   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of
 5   Transportation, the Director of Finance, and the Airlines
 6   Committee of Hawaii.