Committee advances task force to study income‑based traffic fines, drops repeal of Act 59

Senate Bill 2146 would create a traffic fines task force to study whether a Finland‑style income‑based system could be implemented in Hawaii and provide recommendations. The bill originally included a second part to reinstate license stoppers (a mechanism that can prevent license renewal for unpaid fines); after extensive testimony the chair recommended deleting the repeal of Act 59 and moving forward with Part 1 only.

The Hawaii State Judiciary described technical implications for a 'stopper' flag in its case management and data‑sharing work and asked for sufficient time to make software changes if a stopper system were reinstated. Advocates including Hawaii Appleseed and the ACLU supported the task‑force study and urged the committee to keep Part 1; they opposed reimposing license stoppers, citing evidence that suspensions can cause cascading debt and job loss. ACLU testimony said license stoppers disproportionately harm lower‑income and Native Hawaiian residents and questioned whether reimposition would increase net collections.

Members raised tradeoffs: the transportation chair cited over $15 million in uncollected fines since Act 59 passed and sought ways to address revenue shortfalls; advocates proposed alternatives such as ability‑to‑pay models, sliding scales, and community‑service options. Chair Tarnas signaled willingness to study models and tailor solutions to Hawaii’s context. The committee voted to move SB 2146 with the chair’s amendments (deleting Part 2 and adding technical edits).