Bill Text: HI SB2173 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Emergency Management.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-18 - Referred to PSM, JDC. [SB2173 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2173-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2173 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to emergency management.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The purpose of this Act is to remove the ability for a mayor or the governor to suspend electronic media transmission during a state of emergency.
SECTION 2. Section 127A-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
"(a) In the event of a state of emergency declared
by the governor pursuant to section 127A-14, the governor may exercise the following
additional powers pertaining to emergency management during the emergency
period:
(1) Provide for and
require the quarantine or segregation of persons who are affected with or
believed to have been exposed to any infectious, communicable, or other disease
that is, in the governor's opinion, dangerous to the public health and safety,
or persons who are the source of other contamination, in any case where, in the
governor's opinion, the existing laws are not adequate to assure the public
health and safety; provide for the care and treatment of the persons;
supplement the provisions of sections 325-32 to 325-38 concerning compulsory
immunization programs; provide for the isolation or closing of property which
is a source of contamination or is in a dangerous condition in any case where,
in the governor's opinion, the existing laws are not adequate to assure the
public health and safety, and designate as public nuisances acts, practices,
conduct, or conditions that are dangerous to the public health or safety or to
property; authorize that public nuisances be summarily abated and, if need be,
that the property be destroyed[,] by any police officer or authorized
person, or provide for the cleansing or repair of property, and if the
cleansing or repair is to be at the expense of the owner, the procedure
therefor shall follow as nearly as may be the provisions of section 322-2,
which shall be applicable; and further, authorize without the permission of the
owners or occupants, entry on private premises for any [such] of
these purposes;
(2) Relieve hardships and
inequities, or obstructions to the public health, safety, or welfare, found by
the governor to exist in the laws and to result from the operation of federal
programs or measures taken under this chapter, by suspending the laws, in whole
or in part, or by alleviating the provisions of laws on [such] terms and
conditions as the governor may impose, including licensing laws, quarantine
laws, and laws relating to labels, grades, and standards;
(3) Suspend any law that
impedes or tends to impede or be detrimental to the expeditious and efficient
execution of, or to conflict with, emergency functions, including laws which by
this chapter specifically are made applicable to emergency personnel;
(4) Suspend the provisions of any regulatory law
prescribing the procedures for out-of-state utilities to conduct business in
the State including any licensing laws applicable to out-of-state utilities or
their respective employees, as well as any order, rule, or regulation of any
state agency, if strict compliance with the provisions of any [such]
law, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay
necessary action of a state utility in coping with the emergency or disaster
with assistance that may be provided under a mutual assistance agreement;
(5) In the event of
disaster or emergency beyond local control, or an event which, in the opinion
of the governor, [is such as to make] renders state operational
control necessary, or upon request of the local entity, assume direct
operational control over all or any part of the emergency management functions
within the affected area;
(6) Shut off water mains,
gas mains, electric power connections, or suspend other services[, and, to
the extent permitted by or under federal law, suspend electronic media transmission];
(7) Direct and control the
mandatory evacuation of the civilian population;
(8) Exercise additional
emergency functions to the extent necessary to prevent hoarding, waste, or
destruction of materials, supplies, commodities, accommodations, facilities,
and services, to effectuate equitable distribution thereof, or to establish
priorities therein as the public welfare may require; to investigate; and
notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, to regulate or prohibit, by
means of licensing, rationing, or otherwise, the storage, transportation, use,
possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution thereof, and any
business or any transaction related thereto;
(9) Suspend section 8-1,
relating to state holidays, except the last paragraph relating to holidays
declared by the president, which shall remain unaffected, and in the event of
the suspension, the governor may establish state holidays by proclamation;
(10) Adjust the hours for
voting to take into consideration the working hours of the voters during the
emergency period, and suspend those provisions of section 11-131 that fix the
hours for voting, and fix other hours by stating the same in the election
proclamation or notice, as the case may be;
(11) Assure the continuity
of service by critical infrastructure facilities, both publicly and privately
owned, by regulating or, if necessary to the continuation of the service
thereof, by taking over and operating the same; and
(12) Except
as provided in section 134-7.2, whenever in the governor's opinion, the laws of
the State do not adequately provide for the common defense, public health,
safety, and welfare, investigate, regulate, or prohibit the storage,
transportation, use, possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution
of, as well as any transaction related to, explosives, firearms, and
ammunition, inflammable materials and other objects, implements, substances,
businesses, or services of a hazardous or dangerous character, or particularly
capable of misuse, or obstructive of or tending to obstruct law enforcement,
emergency management, or military operations, including intoxicating liquor and
the liquor business; and authorize the seizure and forfeiture of any [such]
objects, implements, or substances unlawfully possessed, as provided in this
chapter.
(b) In the event of a
local state of emergency declared by the mayor pursuant to [[]section[]]
127A-14, the mayor may exercise the following additional powers pertaining to
emergency management during the emergency period:
(1) Relieve hardships and
inequities, or obstructions to the public health, safety, or welfare, found by
the mayor to exist in the laws of the county and to result from the operation
of federal programs or measures taken under this chapter, by suspending the
county laws, in whole or in part, or by alleviating the provisions of county
laws on [such] terms and conditions as the mayor may impose, including
county licensing laws, and county laws relating to labels, grades, and
standards;
(2) Suspend any county law
that impedes or tends to impede or be detrimental to the expeditious and
efficient execution of, or to conflict with, emergency functions, including
laws [which] that by this chapter specifically are made
applicable to emergency personnel;
(3) Shut off water mains,
gas mains, electric power connections, or suspend other services; [and, to
the extent permitted by or under federal law, suspend electronic media
transmission;]
(4) Direct and control the
mandatory evacuation of the civilian population; and
(5) Exercise additional
emergency functions, to the extent necessary to prevent hoarding, waste, or
destruction of materials, supplies, commodities, accommodations, facilities,
and services, to effectuate equitable distribution thereof, or to establish
priorities therein as the public welfare may require; to investigate; and any
other county law to the contrary notwithstanding, to regulate or prohibit, by
means of licensing, rationing, or otherwise, the storage, transportation, use,
possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution thereof, and any
business or any transaction related thereto."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Emergency Management; State of Emergency; Electronic Media Transmission
Description:
Removes the ability for a Mayor or the Governor to suspend electronic media transmission during a state of emergency.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
