3 committees Three Senate committees voted unanimously today in favor of a bill to repeal the state's controversial traffic camera program.
vote to scrap
camera vans
A bill to repeal the controversial
Traffic cams vetoed in Virginia
program moves in the SenateBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com
The approval of the bill came after the Transportation, Judiciary and Tourism committees voted down amendments that would have put a moratorium on new tickets and proposed fixes to the program, including establishing a flat fee instead of a per ticket fee to the private company running the program.
The Transportation committee also passed a resolution asking for a moratorium on new citations until the legal questions about the program have been addressed by the courts. A resolution has no force of law.
The moratorium was proposed by Transportation Cal Kawamoto as a compromise to the repeal measure.
In arguing for the repeal, Sen. Jonathan Chun (D, Lihue) said the Legislature may have made a mistake in passing the original law and it was time to rectify the error. "Let's own up to it and go forward."
Judiciary Chairman Sen. Brian Kanno, holding up the Star-Bulletin and KITV-4 poll which said that 69 percent of those polled think cameras to catch people running red lights are a terrific idea, tried in vain to keep that part of the law from being affected by the repeal.
The traffic light cameras have been installed but have not started issuing citations.
Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae) said that the reason the public doesn't mind the red light cameras is because that part has not been implemented
The repeal bill, which was introduced by Hanabusa, moves on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
During this morning's hearing, Transportation Director Brian Minaai told senators that the estimated cost to the state if the program is repealed would be in excess of a $1 million. If the program were suspended for a month the cost would be $200,000.
Hanabusa, who is also vice chairwoman of the Ways and Means committee, said that the lawmakers will be scrutinizing the costs as they did with the investigative committee she co-chaired on the Felix consent decree.
Sen. Ron Menor (D, Mililani) offered a compromise measure to address what he called "the many obvious flaws" in the program without abandoning the safety benefit it can provide.
His proposal would have imposed a moratorium until July 2003 on the use of camera-equipped vans to ticket vehicles exceeding the speed limit.
Menor said he wants to look at insurance impacts, the severity and range of penalties for photo-captured speeding violations, and whether the Department of Transportation is the best agency to operate the program.
His proposal was voted down.
If the repeal bill is approved by the full Senate, it would go over to the House, where its future is uncertain.
House Transportation Chairman Joe Souki (D, Maui), supports fixing problems with the program rather than repealing it.
"It's far from a done deal on either side," Souki said.
Souki said he thinks the program is worth saving because it may prevent accidents.
"I think it's going to be a lot of discussion with the members," he said. "We're going to try and remedy the problems."
Souki noted that the company operating the cameras also is willing to make changes to keep the project alive.
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Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore had a run-in two years ago with a photo enforcement program similar to the controversial one in Hawaii. He did not like the program, and he vetoed the bill. Traffic-camera bill
vetoed in VirginiaThe former governor of Virginia
says it is an invasion of privacyBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comGilmore, who is also the former Republican national chairman, said he vetoed the traffic camera legislation because it was an invasion of privacy.
"I relied on my own internal philosophy as a conservative Republican about what kind of a state I wanted to live in," said Gilmore, who is in town to speak tonight at a state Republican fund-raiser.
"I just don't believe that the people of my state should be getting used to being watched all the time," he said.
Gilmore added that the veto was controversial because many towns and cities in Virginia were hoping to use the money from traffic fines.
"We should have the freest possible country within the rule of law, and that means you don't want your people being watched, or being accustomed to being watched or trained to being watched," he said.