STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1141

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 551

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 551, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify the public meetings law regarding permissible interactions among board members by:

(1) Allowing two board members to discuss between themselves matters relating to official board business, if the two do not constitute a quorum of the their board;

(2) Allowing one or more board members to conduct discussions in private with the governor, lieutenant governor, and elected state officials for investigation or fact-finding purposes;

(3) Allowing two or more board members to conduct discussions in private with an executive officer of the board or the head of a department to which the board is administratively assigned; and

(4) Allowing two or more members of a board, if they are less than a quorum, to testify and make presentations about matters relating to official board business at a meeting of the other board or a public hearing of the legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Office of Information Practices (OIP), four Maui County Council members, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and The League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

The permitted interactions of board members as clarified in this measure address common problems for board members. The clarifications would allow board members greater latitude to conduct board business without compromising the open meetings law. By broadening the scope of permitted interactions among board members, the board can carry out its business reasonably and efficiently in serving the public.

Your Committee has amended this measure on the recommendation of the OIP by:

(1) Deleting the references to permitted discussions with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, elected state officials, an executive officer of another board, and the head of a department to which the board is administratively assigned;

(2) Clarifying the prerequisites for two or more members of a board to testify and make presentations; and

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 551, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 551, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair