REPORT TITLE:
OIP, Make Permanent


DESCRIPTION:
Makes the office of information practices permanent.  Places it
within the office of the ombudsman. (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2353
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION PRACTICES.
 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the office of
 
 2 information practices was established in 1988 to promote the
 
 3 public's right to access government records by providing
 
 4 guidelines and opinions regarding the disclosure of such records,
 
 5 educating the public regarding their right to access records, and
 
 6 ruling on agency denials of access to information.  The office
 
 7 was originally established within the department of the attorney
 
 8 general and in 1998 was made temporary and placed within the
 
 9 office of the lieutenant governor for administrative purposes.  
 
10      The legislature further finds that government agencies exist
 
11 to aid the public in the formation and conduct of public policy,
 
12 and that appropriate public access to government records should
 
13 be considered a right rather than a privilege.  The office of
 
14 information practices is a key component in the State's overall
 
15 plan to make government records more accessible and less costly
 
16 to retrieve.  Thus, the legislature agrees that it is in the
 
17 State's best interest to ensure appropriate public access to
 
18 government records.  The purpose of this Act, therefore, is to
 
19 make the office of information practices a permanent office and
 

 
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 1 place it within the office of the ombudsman in the legislative
 
 2 branch of government.
 
 3      SECTION 2.  Section 92F-41, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended to read as follows:
 
 5      "§92F-41  Office of information practices; established.(a)
 
 6 There is established [a temporary] an office of information
 
 7 practices [for a special purpose] within the office of the
 
 8 [lieutenant governor] ombudsman for administrative purposes.
 
 9      (b)  The [governor shall appoint a director of the office of
 
10 information practices to be its chief executive officer and who
 
11 shall be exempt from chapters 76 and 77.] legislature, by a
 
12 majority vote of each house in joint session, shall appoint a
 
13 director for the office who shall serve for a period of six years
 
14 and thereafter until a successor shall be appointed.  The
 
15 legislature, by two-thirds vote of the members in joint session,
 
16 may remove or suspend the director from office, but only for
 
17 neglect of duty, misconduct, or disability.
 
18      If the director dies, resigns, becomes ineligible to serve,
 
19 or is removed or suspended from office, the first assistant to
 
20 the director shall become the acting director until a new
 
21 director is appointed.
 
22      The salary of the director shall be $85,302 a year.  The
 
23 salary of the director shall not be diminished during the
 

 
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 1 director's term of office, unless by general law applying to all
 
 2 salaried officers of the State.
 
 3      (c)  All powers and duties of the office of information
 
 4 practices are vested in the director and may be delegated to any
 
 5 other officer or employee of the office.
 
 6      (d)  The director may employ any other personnel that are
 
 7 necessary, including but not limited to a first assistant,
 
 8 attorneys, and clerical staff without regard to chapters 76 and
 
 9 77."
 
10      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
11 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $       , or so much
 
12 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, for the
 
13 office of information practices.  The sum appropriated shall be
 
14 expended by the office of the ombudsman for the purposes of this
 
15 Act.
 
16      SECTION 4.  The current director shall serve as the acting
 
17 director of the office of information practices until a director
 
18 is appointed by the legislature pursuant to this Act.
 
19      SECTION 5.  All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the
 
20 office of information practices are transferred to the office of
 
21 the ombudsman.
 
22      All officers and employees whose functions are transferred
 
23 by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall
 

 
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 1 continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer,
 
 2 subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.
 
 3      No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall
 
 4 suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit,
 
 5 vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a
 
 6 consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be
 
 7 transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the
 
 8 necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee
 
 9 possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which
 
10 transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in
 
11 status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and
 
12 compensation laws.
 
13      An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure
 
14 and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service
 
15 position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil
 
16 service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior
 
17 service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits
 
18 or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided
 
19 that such officer or employee possesses the minimum
 
20 qualifications for the position to which transferred or
 
21 appointed.
 
22      In the event that an office or position held by an officer
 
23 or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee
 

 
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 1 shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall
 
 2 remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and
 
 3 classification and shall be transferred to some other office or
 
 4 position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the
 
 5 personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the
 
 6 department or the governor.
 
 7      All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files,
 
 8 supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other
 
 9 personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the
 
10 office of the lieutenant governor relating to the functions
 
11 transferred to the office of the ombudsman shall be transferred
 
12 with the functions to which they relate.
 
13      SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
14 New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.