HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
190 |
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO ASSIST THE COUNTIES IN NEGOTIATING CABLE Television PUBLIC ACCESS CONTRACTS WITH LOCAL PUBLIC ACCESS PROVIDERS.
WHEREAS, section 440G-8.2(f), Hawaii Revised Statutes, states that cable operators shall designate three or more channels for public, educational, or governmental use, and section 16-131-34, Hawaii Administrative Rules, states that each cable operator shall maintain at least one specially designated channel for government use; and
WHEREAS, government access programming is available to the residents of each county of the State through the Public, Education, and Government access centers: ‘Ōlelo Community Television, Oahu; Akaku: Maui Community Television, Ho‘ike: Kauai Community Television, and Na Leo O Hawaii, Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs collects a cable franchise fee from local cable operators, as authorized by the federal Cable Communications Act of 1984, and passes the revenues collected from this fee to the Public, Education, and Government access centers; and
WHEREAS, the cable franchise fee collected by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is a charge that is passed on by the local cable operators to cable customers through their cable bills; and
WHEREAS, the county councils currently use their counties' general fund money, taken from property taxes and other sources, to execute contracts with private television production companies to produce council proceedings for broadcast through the Public, Education, and Government access centers; and
WHEREAS, the public is effectively taxed twice to receive government programming by paying property taxes and by paying their cable bills that include a charge to cover the cable franchise fee; and
WHEREAS, since 1998, the Hawaii Educational Network Consortium, representing public and private primary, secondary, and higher educational institutions, has contracted with ‘Ōlelo to provide educational programming using the portion of the franchise fees collected for that purpose; and
WHEREAS, the production of county council proceedings qualifies for and should be funded with the portion of the franchise fees collected for government programming; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Educational Network Consortium agreement with ‘Ōlelo, as approved by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, to provide educational programming may provide a model for counties to negotiate directly with the Public, Education, and Government access centers and receive funding dedicated for government programming, thereby avoiding the use of property tax money for production of government programming, including council proceedings; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is urged to assist counties in negotiating with local public, education, and government access providers to allow counties to execute a contract to provide programming using the portion of the franchise fees collected for the purpose of government programming including county council proceedings; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Mayor and Council Chair of the County of Hawaii, the Mayor and Council Chair of the City and County of Honolulu, the Mayor and Council Chair of the County of Kauai, the Mayor and Council Chair of the County of Maui, and the local Public, Education, and Government access centers: the Chair of the Board of Directors of ‘Ōlelo Community Television; the Chair of the Board of Directors of Akaku: Maui Community Television; the President of the Board of Directors of Ho‘ike: Kauai Community Television; and the Executive Director of Na Leo O Hawaii.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Cable Television; Public Access Programming