STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1183

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 162
                                        H.D. 1
                                        S.D. 1



Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No.
162, H.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SERVICE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to clarify the scope of the
subpoena powers of state and county legislative bodies by
removing obsolete references to the loyalty oath that was a part
of the repealed Chapter 85, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committee finds that this bill is intended to remove an
unintended anomaly in the law.  The amendment proposed by this
bill is intended to prevent a situation where, read literally,
the law providing legislative bodies the authority to subpoena
executive officials would not apply to any current executive
officials.  Your Committee notes that the original law, by
limiting the legislative subpoena power to apply only to
officials required to take a loyalty oath, prevented low-level
public employees from being subject to subpoena.  Your Committee
believes it would be poor public policy to subject even publicly-
employed mail clerks or secretaries to legislative subpoena on
pain of termination of employment.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Maui County Council.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by limiting the category of public officials subject to

 
a                                                     
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1183
                                   Page 2


legislative subpoena to the governor and lieutenant governor,
legislators, department heads and deputy department heads,
members of state boards and commissions, and similar officials at
the county level.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
162, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the
form attached hereto as H.B. No. 162, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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