HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

111

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THAT THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION PRACTICES CONDUCT AN ALTERNATIVE APPEAL RESOLUTION PILOT PROJECT.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Office of Information Practices is able to informally resolve most public questions, complaints, and appeals under the Uniform Information Practices Act and Sunshine Law without issuing a formal enforceable ruling; and

 

     WHEREAS, some public appeals cannot be resolved without a formal enforceable ruling by the Office of Information Practices, which normally prepares enforceable rulings on a first-come, first-served basis; and

 

     WHEREAS, preparation of formal enforceable rulings by the Office of Information Practices is time-consuming and expensive; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Information Practices estimates that it will need three new positions and $345,000 per year for at least two years to address its backlog of pending appeals that cannot be resolved without a formal enforceable ruling; and

 

     WHEREAS, unless additional resources are provided to the Office of Information Practices, or unless the Office of Information Practices experiments with finding an effective way to modify its procedures, the Office of Information Practices will be unable to quickly resolve incoming public appeals that require a formal enforceable ruling; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the outcome, experiments generally provide useful information; now, therefore

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the Office of Information Practices is requested to conduct an alternative resolution pilot project with a randomly selected sample of incoming public appeals under the Uniform Information Practices Act and the Sunshine Law; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for each appeal in the selected sample, but not for other appeals, the Office of Information Practices is requested to prepare a short, informal, unenforceable guidance within two weeks of receiving the final response of the agency and other parties involved; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for each appeal in the sample, the Office of Information Practices is also requested to assure that a formal enforceable ruling will be issued at a future time to be determined by its usual procedures if the informal guidance does not resolve the appeal; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Information Practices is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation and a comparison of the outcomes and staff time requirements for the sample appeals with the outcomes and staff time requirements for the other appeals, to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if the alternative resolution pilot project improves the outcomes and staff time requirements for certain types or all types of incoming public appeals, the Office of Information Practices is requested to appropriately adopt the process as a standard practice; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of the Office of Information Practices.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Office of Information Practices; Alternative Appeal Resolution