Senate committee advances omnibus transportation bill after Attorney General’s recommended edits

The Senate’s joint committee on Transportation, Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Education advanced HB 2,033 (house draft 2) on March 24 after adopting Attorney General-recommended amendments and technical changes. Chair opened the hearing and described HB 2,033 as an omnibus transportation bill with multiple parts covering front license‑plate mounting hardware, vehicle plate requirements, automated speed‑enforcement systems and camera-based programs.

Deputy Attorney General Marti LaRafuda told the committee the Attorney General’s Office submitted written testimony with suggested replacement wording for parts 4 and 5 of the bill, noting those sections contemplate an automatic license‑plate recognition (ALPR) system and a school‑bus detection system and recommending that implementation and enforcement language be aligned with existing statutory chapters governing photo red‑light and automated speed enforcement. “Such that certain provisions from those chapters could support proper implementation and enforcement of these new systems,” LaRafuda said, and offered to answer questions.

Nikos Leverenz, testifying in his personal capacity, urged the committee to add precise statutory guardrails to protect privacy and guard against misuse of ALPR data, warning that similar systems have been used elsewhere in ways that harmed vulnerable populations. “Statutory language must be more exacting so that those in the executive branch and its contractors have clear parameters that reflect our state's abiding commitment to individual liberties against government overreach,” he said.

Megan Johnson of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services stood on written testimony in support and responded to committee questions about local implementation. Committee members pressed for clearer language and for technical clarifications; the chair said the Attorney General’s SD1 incorporated many of those fixes and recommended adopting that draft.

The committee’s recommendation was to adopt the Attorney General’s SD1 and to add language directing the Department of Transportation to adopt rules permitting mobile motor‑vehicle safety inspections for passenger cars, plus technical, non‑substantive edits. The committee recorded its decision to pass HB 2,033 with the amendments. The chair said staff will make the non‑substantive technical corrections and coordinate rulemaking language with DOT.

The committee did not adopt any final regulatory text at the hearing; instead it advanced the bill with the instructed amendments and requested follow‑up work to align enforcement and privacy safeguards with existing statutory frameworks.

What happens next: The committee advanced HB 2,033 (HD2 with SD1 changes) for further action per the Senate’s legislative process; staff and agencies will return with rule language and technical edits as requested by the committee.