THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

200

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the Legislative Reference Bureau, Department of Budget and Finance, and Office of Enterprise Technology Services to identify and eliminate gaps in the tracking of studies, funds appropriated for studies, and submission status of reports.

 

 


     WHEREAS, between 2015 and 2020, the Legislature appropriated funds and required reports in one hundred Acts; and

 

     WHEREAS, of those one hundred required reports, thirteen reports were not submitted; of those thirteen, ten reports were funded and not delivered; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 71, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, appropriated $30,000 for fiscal year 2015-2016 and $15,000 for fiscal year 2016-2017 to be expended by the Department of Health to report to the Legislature on the status of the civil monetary penalty special fund, which report has not been submitted to the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 194, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, appropriated $2,000,000 out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii for fiscal year 2016-2017 for positions and other operating expenditures of the Roads Commission and for repair work, including flood mitigation, installation of drainage infrastructure, and road resurfacing; however, the Roads Commission was never established, the appropriation lapsed, and no report was submitted; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 231, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, established that the Legislative Reference Bureau shall develop a system to track and monitor the submission of reports to the Legislature by executive agencies and the Judiciary, and that the system shall encompass all annual and other reports required by law to be submitted to the Legislature, or requested by legislative resolution; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2018, the Legislature began accepting reports filed electronically, yet the Legislative Reference Bureau cannot identify the status of pending reports, largely due to its manual filing system geared towards receiving and filing reports rather than tracking report status; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance also cannot ascertain the status of funded studies; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Enterprise Technology Services developed a Capital Improvement Project Dashboard tracking system that tracks the amount of CIP funds encumbered and expended by department and by month, allowing citizens to see how the funds raised by bond issues are being spent, by whom, and when; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau, Department of Budget and Finance, and Office of Enterprise Technology Services are requested to identify and eliminate gaps in the tracking of studies, funds appropriated for studies, and submission status of reports; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau, Department of Budget and Finance, and Office of Enterprise Technology Services are requested to submit a joint report of their findings, actions already undertaken, and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Director of Budget and Finance, and Chief Information Officer.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Legislative Reference Bureau; Department of Budget and Finance; Office of Enterprise Technology Services; Study; Report