Bill Text: HI HR106 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Working Group; Honolulu Rail Transit Project; Progress; Funding

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to TRN, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HR106 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HR106-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	106
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the auditor to convene a working group to examine the status and progress of the Honolulu rail transit project.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Act 247, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, authorizes the counties to levy, by ordinance adopted no later than December 31, 2005, a county surcharge on the state general excise tax to fund public transportation systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2005, the Council of the City and County of Honolulu adopted ordinance No. 05-27, which established the one-half per cent general excise tax surcharge for the Honolulu rail transit project; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2010, voters approved an amendment to the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu to create the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is a semi-autonomous public transit authority responsible for the planning, construction, operation, and extension of the rail system; and

 

     WHEREAS, the initial section of the rail system, from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium, is scheduled to open in 2017, and the entire rail system is expected to be fully operational in 2019; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Auditor is requested to convene a working group to examine the status and progress of the Honolulu rail transit project; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following persons or their representatives are requested to be members of the working group:

 

     (1)  The Auditor, who shall serve as the chairperson of the working group;

 

     (2)  A representative from the Office of the Governor;

 

     (3)  The Director of Finance;

 

     (4)  The Director of Transportation;

 

     (5)  The President of the Senate;

 

     (6)  The Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

     (7)  The Chairperson of the Council on Revenues; and

 

     (8)  One member representing each county, to be appointed by the mayor of each respective county; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to:

 

     (1)  Examine current sources of funding for the rail system; and

 

     (2)  Consider the feasibility of using alternative sources of funding, as opposed to extending, making permanent, or increasing the one-half per cent general excise tax surcharge currently collected for the Honolulu rail transit project; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Auditor, Director of Finance, Director of Transportation, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chairperson of the Council on Revenues, and the Mayor of each county.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Working Group; Honolulu Rail Transit Project; Progress; Funding