STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2194

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2522
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
2522 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OFFICE OF INFORMATION
     PRACTICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to amend the powers and duties of the director of the Office of
Information Practices (OIP) with respect to the public open
meetings law; to amend requirements of the public open meetings
law with respect to executive meetings; and to make an
appropriation for the OIP.

     Your Committee finds that there have been increasing
allegations of overuse of executive meetings, which allows closed
consultation by members of public bodies during what otherwise
would be open meetings.  Such overuse may give a public
impression that executive meetings are being used to evade the
requirements of the open meetings law.  Your Committee agrees
that it is good policy to require any public body which uses
executive meetings to enter the specific reasons for such
meetings into its minutes whenever one is held, including a
reference to the appropriate paragraph of section 92-5(a), Hawaii
Revised Statutes.  This practice will increase public confidence
in the integrity of the process and reinforce the commitment of
public agencies to the requirements of public open meetings,
without unreasonably hindering the public body's efficiency.


 
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     Your Committee further finds that OIP already has the
authority to establish procedures for filing and responding to
complaints filed by any person alleging a violation of the public
open meetings law.  Your Committee believes that OIP's resources
should not be strained further by increasing their statutory
duties.  However, your Committee does believe that OIP serves a
highly important role within the government and should receive
the funding it needs to adequately perform its current duties.
For this reason, your Committee agrees that an appropriation of
funds to OIP is necessary.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by OIP,
the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and one individual.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Deleting provisions that would have amended OIP's
          powers and duties with respect to the public open
          meetings law;

     (2)  Adding a requirement that the specific reasons given
          for holding an executive meeting be entered into the
          minutes;

     (3)  Clarifying that the summary of an executive meeting
          should be included in the written minutes of a meeting;
          and

     (4)  Changing the effective date of the measure from upon
          approval to July 1, 2000.

     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 S.B. No.
2522, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2522, S.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.


 
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                                   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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