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WilOkabe <br />Managing Director <br />Harry Kim <br />Mayor <br />Barbara J. Kossow <br />Deputy Managing Director <br />Office of the Mayor <br />25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 96720 (808) 961-8211 Fax (808) 961-6553 <br />KONA: 74-5044lole Hwy., Bldg C Kailua-96740 <br />(808) 323-4444 Fax (808) 323-4440 <br />March 11, 2019 <br />Senator Laura H. Thielen, Chair <br />Senator Lorraine R. Inouye, Vice Chair <br />Committee on Government Operations <br />Dear Chair Thielen, Vice Chair Inouye, and Committee Members: <br /> <br />RE: HB 1153, HD1 Relating to Remote Testimony in Legislative Hearings <br />of this State is inherent in the people and the responsibility for the exercise thereof rests with the <br />dedicated to assuring citizen participation in its activities, and has often been at the forefront of <br />innovations that enhance that participation and make it more effective. <br />Technology has now reached the point where persons with disabilities, residents of rural Oahu, <br />and neighbor island residents, can be enabled to more fully participate in the legislative process <br />without experiencing inconvenient, expensive and/or time-consuming travel to the Capitol. Exactly <br />how that should be done, without jeopardizing the need for an expeditious legislative process, may <br />require further thought and deliberations, and that is exactly what HB 1153, HD1 would allow. HB <br />it mandates the outcome that remote testimony shall be allowed, and then leaves it to each house to <br />figure out the details. That is the kind of balance that this Legislature is known for and can be proud <br />of. <br />of leaders is <br />better assuring that all have equal access to their government. Thank you for taking this next step. <br />I hope you will approve HB 1153, HD1. <br />Respectfully Submitted, <br />Harry Kim <br />MAYOR <br />