STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2507

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2937

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2937 entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to establish a process by which a state agency may request the Office of Information Practices to declare a person a vexatious requester, when that person has established a pattern of conduct that amounts to an abuse of a process of the information practices law, chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

 

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by two state agencies and one private organization.  Testimony in opposition to the measure was submitted by one private individual.  Comments were submitted by the Ombudsman.  Written testimony presented to your Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA) currently contains no provision allowing an agency to not respond to a record request, even when there is a legitimate justification for not responding.  Your Committee believes that most record requests are made in good faith, even if the requests are repeated in an attempt to obtain a response from the agency in a timely manner.  However, very occasionally, extreme situations arise when requests are made by a small number of requesters with the intent to harass an agency or by making the same request over and over again, even if a response has already been obtained.  Your Committee understands that the intent of this measure is to address only the latter group of requesters, whose abuse of the UIPA procedures is extreme, rather than the former group, whose requests are made in good faith.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the provisions regarding review of the vexatious requester determination or restrictions by the Ombudsman, since the review authority would give the Ombudsman enforcement power over the Office of Information Practices that is inconsistent with the Ombudsman's role, as suggested by the Ombudsman;

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to ensure further discussion of this measure; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of style and clarity.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2937, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2937, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations,

 

 

 

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair