STAND. COM. REP. NO.434

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1647

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1647 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds from the universal service program special fund to provide individuals who are blind or visually impaired with telephonic access to time-sensitive information.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii and eleven concerned citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by Verizon Hawaii. The Public Utilities Commission submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committees find that the more than 1.1 million blind and visually disabled individuals in the United States have difficulty accessing time-sensitive information, including daily newspapers. Although the Hawaii State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped does provide Braille and audio editions of books and magazines, it is not feasible to translate daily newspapers and other time-sensitive information into such alternative formats in a timely manner.

Your Committees further find that the National Federation of the Blind-Newsline (Newsline) telephonic reading service is the first and only nationally conducted audio service, providing eligible blind and visually impaired individuals with toll-free telephonic access to daily newspapers and other time-sensitive information, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Newsline service uses high-speed computers and telecommunications technology to electronically scan and "read" the daily newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and other types of time-sensitive reading materials, upon demand. States are charged a flat monthly fee, ranging from $43,000 to $65,000, regardless of the number of users accessing the service.

Since 2000, eligible blind and disabled Oahu residents have been able to access Newsline services at no cost to them. Start-up funding was provided through private grants. Subsequently, federal funding was received under the Library Services and Technology Act for a one-year demonstration project, allowing the expansion of the Newsline program to the neighbor islands. Your Committees find that the federal funding will terminate on or about March 2003.

Your Committees further find that, although the State's universal service program was statutorily established in 1995, to date, Hawaii's universal service program has not been set up, nor have any funds been collected, for a variety of reasons. Because of this, it is not feasible to use the universal access program special fund to support telephonic access services to time-sensitive information for the blind and disabled.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure to specify that the funds shall be appropriated from the general fund, rather than the universal service program special fund.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1647, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1647, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing,

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair