Bill Text: HI HB2563 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To The Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-0)
Status: (Enrolled) 2024-05-01 - Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 798). [HB2563 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-HB2563-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2563 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1.
The legislature finds that residents of and visitors to the State often
have difficulty locating the appropriate state or county application processes
when they wish to conduct or participate in recreational activity in the State,
including placing a reservation for a state park camping permit or obtaining a
license to visit state- or county-owned parks.
Commercial operators desiring to do business in the State are also often
confused about the required authorizations, licenses, and permits necessary to
operate in areas administered by the State or counties, which can lead to a
variety of illegal and unauthorized commercial offerings.
The legislature further finds that a mobile
application that consolidates all of the forms and application processes required
to conduct recreational and commercial activities in the State will streamline
the application processes and greatly benefit Hawaii's residents, visitors, and
commercial operators. The legislature
notes that, for this mobile application to be used by people with disabilities
and residents and visitors whose first language may not be English, the mobile
application must be accessible to people with disabilities and available in
multiple languages.
The legislature also finds that Act 182,
Session Laws of Hawaii 2023 (Act 182), requires the department of land and
natural resources to develop and publish a website and mobile application for a
permit, license, or reservation, and to collect fees, for recreational or
commercial activities under the jurisdiction of the department. It is the intent of the legislature to
integrate the mobile application created by Act 182 with the new application
required by this Act to create a uniform mobile application for residents and
visitors of the State.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the Hawaii tourism authority to develop and publish, through a contract with a third party, a mobile application that includes all online application processes, including the collection of any applicable reservation fees, to acquire a reservation to conduct recreational and commercial activities in the State that are regulated by or under the jurisdiction of a state or county agency;
(2) Establish a tourism enterprise fund;
(3) Require the Hawaii tourism authority to issue a request for proposals to contract for the development and publishing of the mobile application; and
(4) Appropriate funds for the development and publication of the mobile application, including the hiring of a mobile manager.
SECTION 2. Chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§201B-A Mobile application; reservations;
recreational and commercial activities.
(a) The authority shall develop, publish,
and be responsible for the maintenance of a mobile application, through a
contract with a third party, that includes all online application
processes to acquire a permit, license, or reservation needed to conduct
recreational and commercial activities in the State that are regulated by
or under the jurisdiction of a state or county agency, including but not
limited to:
(1) Permits for a
campsite, cabin, or pavilion;
(2) Reservations to
access certain state parks;
(3) Licenses to
visit a state- or county-owned park, beach, forest, hiking trail, or other
natural area on state or county land, as designated by rule by the board of
land and natural resources or appropriate county agency; and
(4) Licenses and
permits for any other authorized recreational and commercial activities
regulated by a state or county agency.
(b) The mobile application required under
subsection (a) shall be accessible to people with disabilities and available in
multiple languages, including but not
limited to:
(1) The official
languages of the State;
(2) Traditional
and simplified Chinese;
(3) Japanese;
(4) Korean;
(5) Tagalog; and
(6) Recommendations
of the:
(A) Office
of language access; and
(B) Authority.
(c) The mobile application required under subsection
(a) shall include a visitor satisfaction survey developed by the authority to
survey visitors departing the State.
(d) The mobile application required under
subsection (a) shall include a payment system to collect any fees associated
with applying for a permit, license, or reservation through the mobile
application. The fees shall be deposited
into the appropriate department or county subaccount within the tourism
enterprise fund established under section 201B-B based on the department or
county to whom the fee was paid to acquire a permit, license, or
reservation. The authority and counties
shall sign memorandums of agreement allowing for the collection of fees associated
with applying for a county permit, license, or reservation through the mobile
application, to be disbursed to the counties on a quarterly basis pursuant to
section 201B-B(c).
§201B-B Tourism enterprise fund. (a)
There is established outside the state treasury a tourism enterprise fund
to be administered by the board, into which shall be deposited the fees
collected pursuant to section 201B-A(d) and all investment earnings credited to
the fund; provided that the fees shall be deposited into the appropriate
department or county subaccount established pursuant to subsection (b).
(b) The board shall establish separate
subaccounts within the tourism enterprise fund for each department and county
that hosts a permit, license, or reservation application on the mobile
application established pursuant to section 201B-A.
(c) Moneys in the tourism enterprise fund shall
be disbursed to the appropriate state or county agency from the tourism
enterprise fund on a quarterly basis."
SECTION 3. (a) Pursuant to chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Hawaii tourism authority shall issue a request for proposals and contract for the development and publication of the mobile application required pursuant to section 201B-A, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
(b) To develop the mobile application, the selected vendor shall:
(1) Be granted access to the application programming interface of any existing state or county reservation systems developed to access state or county lands and other resources, including the department of land and natural resource's website and mobile application developed pursuant to Act 182, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, to integrate into the mobile application; and
(2) Coordinate with the relevant state and county agencies to develop the payment system for the collection of fees required pursuant to section 201B-A(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes.
SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the Hawaii tourism authority to issue a request for proposals and contract for the development and publication of a mobile application pursuant to section 2 of this Act, including for the establishment of full-time equivalent ( FTE) manager positions to manage the mobile application, to be hired by the Hawaii tourism authority.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii tourism authority for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 5. In accordance with section 9 of article VII of the Hawaii State Constitution and sections 37‑91 and 37‑93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the legislature has determined that the appropriations contained in H.B. No. , will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024‑2025 to be exceeded by $ or per cent. In addition, the appropriation contained in this Act will cause the general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024‑2025 to be further exceeded by $ or per cent. The combined total amount of general fund appropriations contained in only these two Acts will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024‑2025 to be exceeded by $ or per cent. The reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling are that:
(1) The appropriation made in this Act is necessary to serve the public interest; and
(2) The appropriation made in this Act meets the needs addressed by this Act.
SECTION 6. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 7. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000.
Report Title:
Hawaii Tourism Authority; Recreational Activities; Commercial Activities; Mobile Application; Tourism Enterprise Fund; Appropriation; Expenditure Ceiling
Description:
Requires the Hawaii Tourism Authority to develop and
publish, through a contract with a third party, a mobile application that
includes all online application processes, including the collection of any
applicable reservation fees, to acquire a reservation to conduct recreational
and commercial activities in the State that are regulated by or under the
jurisdiction of a state or county agency.
Requires the Hawaii Tourism Authority to issue a request for proposals and
contract for the development and publishing of the mobile application. Establishes the Tourism Enterprise Fund. Appropriates funds for the development and
publication of the mobile application, including the hiring of mobile
application managers. Declares
that the general fund expenditure ceiling is exceeded. Takes effect 7/1/3000. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
