REPORT TITLE:
Legislative Analyst


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes the office of the legislative analyst as a
legislative service agency and repeals the joint legislative
budget committee.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2544
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE ANALYST.
 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 21F-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "[[]§21F-1[]]  Purpose.  The legislature finds that most
 
 4 states have a separate fiscal policy office in the legislative
 
 5 branch that works effectively to provide the legislature with
 
 6 necessary revenue and expenditure data and analyses from which
 
 7 economic and fiscal policies are developed.  In Hawaii, the
 
 8 legislature relies on the economic and fiscal analyses of the
 
 9 executive branch and private sector.  The legislature believes
 
10 that this dependency creates an inherent conflict of interest
 
11 that precludes the legislature from operating independently.
 
12      Modern legislatures have become sophisticated data gatherers
 
13 and analysts, on par with the executive and judiciary branches.
 
14 Over the last five years, this shift has been accelerated through
 
15 the development of professional, highly specialized legislative
 
16 staff.
 
17      Since Hawaii's legislature meets for only four months of the
 
18 year, it has come to rely heavily on the use of session-only
 
19 legislative staff or employees on loan from the executive branch.
 

 
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 1 In 1988, the state house and senate together employed 621 session
 
 2 staff members as compared to 151 permanent employees.  Only New
 
 3 York, the state with the most legislative staff in the country,
 
 4 had more session staff than Hawaii.
 
 5      The purpose of this chapter is to establish a [permanent
 
 6 legislative committee] legislative analyst's office to provide
 
 7 the legislature with information, facts, and analyses concerning
 
 8 fiscal, budgetary, and tax matters of the State.  It is the
 
 9 legislature's intent that [the committee, with the assistance of]
 
10 the office of the legislative analyst[,] shall perform
 
11 independent, in-depth [analysis] analyses of the State's
 
12 [budget,] agency budgets, revenues and expenditures, economic
 
13 conditions, and tax policies."
 
14      SECTION 2.  Section 21F-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
15 amended to read as follows:
 
16      "[[]§21F-6[]]  Office of the legislative analyst
 
17 established.(a)  There is established the office of the
 
18 legislative analyst [to be administered by the committee.  The
 
19 committee shall appoint a legislative analyst who shall serve for
 
20 a period of four years.  The committee, by a three-fourths vote
 
21 of its members, may remove the legislative analyst from office,
 
22 but only for cause.  The committee shall fix the salary of the
 
23 legislative analyst].  The legislature, by a majority vote of
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2544
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 each house in joint session, shall appoint the legislative
 
 2 analyst who shall serve for a period of six years and thereafter
 
 3 until a successor shall have been appointed.  The legislature, by
 
 4 two-thirds vote of the members in joint session, may remove or
 
 5 suspend the legislative analyst from office, but only for neglect
 
 6 of duty, misconduct, or disability.
 
 7      If the legislative analyst dies, resigns, becomes ineligible
 
 8 to serve, or is removed or suspended from office, the first
 
 9 assistant to the legislative analyst shall become the acting
 
10 legislative analyst until a new one is appointed.
 
11      The salary of the legislative analyst shall be $85,302 a
 
12 year.  The salary of the legislative analyst shall not be
 
13 diminished during the legislative analyst's term of office,
 
14 unless by general law applying to all salaried officers of the
 
15 State.
 
16      (b)  The legislative analyst may employ other clerical and
 
17 technical employees, including a first assistant, as may be
 
18 necessary to carry out the functions of the office.  The
 
19 legislative analyst and other [clerical and technical] employees
 
20 shall be entitled to participate in any employee benefit program
 
21 plan or privilege generally available to state employees."
 
22      SECTION 3.  Section 21F-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
23 amended by deleting the definition of "committee".
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2544
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      [""Committee" means the joint legislative budget
 
 2 committee."]
 
 3      SECTION 4.  Section 21F-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 repealed.
 
 5      ["[§21F-3]  Joint legislative budget committee established;
 
 6 purpose.  The joint legislative budget committee is hereby
 
 7 established.  The committee shall ascertain facts and make
 
 8 recommendations to the legislature and to the houses thereof
 
 9 concerning:  the state budget; the revenues and expenditures of
 
10 the State; the organization and functions of the State, its
 
11 departments, subdivisions, and agencies; and other matters as may
 
12 be provided for in the rules of the senate and the rules of the
 
13 house.  The committee shall have a continuing existence and may
 
14 meet, act, and conduct its business at any place within this
 
15 State, during the sessions of the legislature or any recess, and
 
16 in the interim period between sessions."]
 
17      SECTION 5.  Section 21F-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
18 repealed.
 
19      ["[§21F-4]  Selection of members; co-chairpersons; filling
 
20 vacancies.  The committee shall consist of five members of the
 
21 senate and five members of the house who shall be selected in the
 
22 manner provided for in the rules of the senate and the rules of
 
23 the house.  The president of the senate and the speaker of the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2544
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 house shall select the members of the committee, including
 
 2 members of the majority leadership, members of the minority
 
 3 leadership, the chairperson of the senate ways and means
 
 4 committee, and the chairperson of the house finance committee.
 
 5 The chairperson of the senate ways and means committee and the
 
 6 chairperson of the house finance committee shall serve as co-
 
 7 chairpersons of the committee.  Vacancies occurring in the
 
 8 membership of the committee shall be filled in the manner
 
 9 provided for in the rules of the senate and the rules of the
 
10 house.  A vacancy shall be deemed to exist as to any member of
 
11 the committee whose term is expiring whenever the member is not
 
12 reelected at the general election."]
 
13      SECTION 6.  Section 21F-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 repealed.
 
15      ["[§21F-5]  Rules.  The committee is authorized to adopt
 
16 rules governing its own proceedings and to create subcommittees
 
17 from its membership and assign to the subcommittees any study,
 
18 inquiry, investigation, or hearing that the committee itself has
 
19 authority to undertake or hold."]
 
20      SECTION 7.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
21 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much
 
22 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, to fund
 
23 the office of the legislative analyst.
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2544
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 8.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 2 legislature for the purposes of this Act.
 
 3      SECTION 9.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 4 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 5      SECTION 10.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 6 
 
 7                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________