Bill Text: HI SR13 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Requesting The Federal Communications Commission To Require All Television Stations That Broadcast In Hawaii To Dedicate Time Slots To Educate The General Public Through Public Service Announcements On How To Prepare For Natural And Man-made Disasters.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-28 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SR13 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SR13-Amended.html

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

13

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TO REQUIRE ALL TELEVISION STATIONS THAT BROADCAST IN HAWAII TO DEDICATE TIME SLOTS TO EDUCATE THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS.

 

 


     WHEREAS, Hawaii's geographic location puts the islands at risk of various natural disasters, such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and tropical storms; and

 

     WHEREAS, man-made disasters are also a threat to the safety of Hawaii's residents and visitors, especially in light of recent domestic and international events; and

 

     WHEREAS, while there are safety measures in place in the event of natural and man-made disasters, much of the public remains unaware of the proper procedures to take during any type of disaster; and

 

     WHEREAS, the recent scare of a false ballistic missile threat proved that regardless of safety measures the State has in place, the public is not sufficiently educated on the necessary steps and procedures to take in the event of a real disaster; and

 

     WHEREAS, although disaster procedures and related information are available online, not all of the public has access to the Internet; therefore, it is important to give the public a variety of means to access disaster procedures and related information to cover all the platforms of information dissemination, which includes television, radio, and the Internet; and

 

     WHEREAS, all public broadcast messages or service announcements need to be accessible to people with disabilities, including people who are blind, deaf, or hard of hearing, or who have cognitive disabilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, all emergency and disaster planning efforts should be able to be communicated across various platforms so that no population is left out; and

 

     WHEREAS, public safety, especially in the context of emergency preparedness, can be effected through collaboration with the federal government; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in the United States and is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing the United States' communications law and regulations; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that the Federal Communications Commission is requested to require all television stations that broadcast in Hawaii to allocate time slots in their programs to broadcast public service announcements to educate the public on how to prepare for all disasters, natural and man-made, in Hawaii; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any and all information broadcast on local television stations that offer public service announcements is requested to be:

 

     (1)  Accessible to people with disabilities, including through the use of audio descriptions for people who are blind, open captions and sign language interpreters for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and basic English for people with cognitive disabilities;

 

     (2)  Equivalent to information accessible to persons without disabilities; and

 

     (3)  Unobstructed by any other messages; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Federal Communications Commission and Hawaii's congressional delegation.

Report Title: 

Television Stations; Public Service Announcement; Disaster Response

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