Bill Text: HI HCR111 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The State And Counties To Utilize Metric Measurements Alongside United States Customary Measurements In All Public Signage.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-13 - Referred to CPC, FIN, referral sheet 29 [HCR111 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HCR111-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	111
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the State and Counties to utilize Metric Measurements Alongside United States Customary Measurements in all Public Signage.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the metric system is the language of science, medicine, international commerce, and most sports; and

 

     WHEREAS, the metric system is the most widely used system of measurements in the world, having been officially adopted in all but three countries worldwide; and

 

     WHEREAS, learning two measurement systems may be time-consuming and confusing; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is easier to make conversions using the metric system, requiring only the moving of the decimal point right or left; and

 

     WHEREAS, unfamiliarity with the metric system can result in costly and dangerous conversion errors; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is easier to conceptualize one gram versus 1/28th of an ounce, or one milliliter versus 1/29th of a fluid ounce; and

 

     WHEREAS, use of the metric system is necessary for travel outside of the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, the economic benefits of global interoperability greatly outweigh the challenges of converting to the metric system; and

 

     WHEREAS, product design, manufacturing, marketing, and labeling are all made more difficult by having to convert measurements from one system of measurements to the other; and

 

     WHEREAS, switching to the metric system would likely result in the creation of many jobs and enable the current and future workforce of the United States to be better prepared to work in the international economy; and

 

     WHEREAS, the effectiveness of the metric system can be seen throughout the medical field, where its utilization has improved services across the industry; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices' 2016-2017 Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals report urges the use of liquid medication dosing devices that only display volume using the metric scale; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices has received more than fifty reports of errors resulting from mix-ups between metric milliliters (ml) and other, non-metric measurements such as drops or teaspoons; and

 

     WHEREAS, some of these mistakes have led to injuries requiring hospitalization; and

 

     WHEREAS, greater familiarity with the metric system of measurements may have helped prevent these and other types of errors; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature finds that continued familiarity with and utilization of the metric system is beneficial; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all state and county agencies are requested to include the metric system of measurements alongside United States customary measurements in all public signage expressing speed and distance in order to help the public gain familiarity with the metric system of measurement; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and to the Mayor and Chairperson of the Council of each county, all of whom are, in turn, requested to transmit copies to the head of each department or agency, as the case may be, within their respective jurisdictions.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Measurements; Metric System; Signage