REPORT TITLE:
Legislative Analyst


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes the office of the legislative analyst as a
legislative service agency, clarifies its duties, and repeals the
joint legislative budget committee.  (SB2544 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2544
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE ANALYST.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 21F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§21F-     New special, revolving, or trust funds and trust
 
 5 accounts.  Within five days after the deadline for the
 
 6 introduction of bills in each legislative session, the clerks of
 
 7 each house of the legislature shall transmit, to the legislative
 
 8 analyst for analysis, copies of all legislative bills that were
 
 9 introduced in their respective houses during that session that
 
10 propose to establish new special, revolving, or trust funds or
 
11 trust accounts.
 
12      The criteria to be used by the legislative analyst in
 
13 analyzing each legislative bill shall include, but not be limited
 
14 to, the extent to which the fund or account:
 
15      (1)  Serves the purpose for which it is being created; and
 
16      (2)  Reflects a clear link between the benefit sought and
 
17           charges made upon the users or beneficiaries of the
 
18           program, as opposed to serving primarily as a means to
 
19           provide the program or users with an automatic means of
 

 
Page 2                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1           support which is removed from the normal budget and
 
 2           appropriations process.
 
 3 Each analysis shall set forth the probable effects of the
 
 4 proposed fund and shall also assess alternative forms of funding.
 
 5      No later than the twenty-second day of each legislative
 
 6 session, the legislative analyst shall submit the analysis of
 
 7 each transmitted legislative bill to each house of the
 
 8 legislature."
 
 9      SECTION 2.  Section 21F-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
10 amended to read as follows:
 
11      "[[]§21F-1[]]  Purpose.  The legislature finds that most
 
12 states have a separate fiscal policy office in the legislative
 
13 branch that works effectively to provide the legislature with
 
14 necessary revenue and expenditure data and analyses from which
 
15 economic and fiscal policies are developed.  In Hawaii, the
 
16 legislature relies on the economic and fiscal analyses of the
 
17 executive branch and private sector.  The legislature believes
 
18 that this dependency creates an inherent conflict of interest
 
19 that precludes the legislature from operating independently.
 
20      Modern legislatures have become sophisticated data gatherers
 
21 and analysts, on par with the executive and judiciary branches.
 
22 Over the last five years, this shift has been accelerated through
 
23 the development of professional, highly specialized legislative
 
24 staff.
 

 
Page 3                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

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

 
Page 4                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

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

 
Page 5                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 4.  Section 21F-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
 3      "(a)  The purpose of the office of the legislative analyst
 
 4 shall be[:] to:
 
 5      (1)  [To provide] Provide the legislature with research and
 
 6           analysis of current and projected state revenues and
 
 7           expenditures;
 
 8      (2)  [To provide] Provide the legislature with a report
 
 9           analyzing the governor's proposed levels of revenue and
 
10           expenditures for biennial budgets submitted under
 
11           chapter 37 as well as other supplemental budget
 
12           submittals to the legislature by the governor;
 
13      (3)  [To provide] Provide an analysis of the impact of the
 
14           governor's proposed revenue and expenditure plans for
 
15           the next biennium;
 
16      (4)  [To conduct] Conduct research on matters of economic
 
17           and fiscal policy and to report to the legislature on
 
18           the result of the research;
 
19      (5)  [To provide] Provide economic reports and studies on
 
20           the state of the State's economy, including trends and
 
21           forecasts for consideration by the legislature;
 
22      (6)  [To conduct] Conduct budget and tax studies and provide
 
23           general fiscal and budgetary information;
 

 
Page 6                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1      (7)  [To review] Review and make recommendations on the
 
 2           operation of state programs in order to appraise the
 
 3           implementation of state laws regarding the expenditure
 
 4           of funds and to recommend means of improving their
 
 5           efficiency; [and]
 
 6      (8)  [To recommend] Recommend to the legislature changes in
 
 7           the mix of revenue sources for programs, in the
 
 8           percentage of state expenditures devoted to major
 
 9           programs, and in the role of the legislature in
 
10           overseeing state government expenditures and revenue
 
11           projections[.]; and
 
12      (9)  Provide assistance to the house committee on finance
 
13           and senate committee on ways and means, as may be
 
14           requested, on the fiscal impacts of bills under
 
15           consideration."
 
16      SECTION 5.  Section 21F-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
17 amended by repealing the definition of "committee".
 
18      [""Committee" means the joint legislative budget
 
19 committee."]
 
20      SECTION 6.  Section 21F-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
21 repealed.
 
22      ["[§21F-3]  Joint legislative budget committee established;
 
23 purpose.  The joint legislative budget committee is hereby
 

 
Page 7                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

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

 
Page 8                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1 chairpersons of the committee.  Vacancies occurring in the
 
 2 membership of the committee shall be filled in the manner
 
 3 provided for in the rules of the senate and the rules of the
 
 4 house.  A vacancy shall be deemed to exist as to any member of
 
 5 the committee whose term is expiring whenever the member is not
 
 6 reelected at the general election."]
 
 7      SECTION 8.  Section 21F-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 8 repealed.
 
 9      ["[§21F-5]  Rules.  The committee is authorized to adopt
 
10 rules governing its own proceedings and to create subcommittees
 
11 from its membership and assign to the subcommittees any study,
 
12 inquiry, investigation, or hearing that the committee itself has
 
13 authority to undertake or hold."]
 
14      SECTION 9.  Section 23-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
15 repealed.
 
16      ["[§23-11]  New special or revolving funds.  Within five
 
17 days after the deadline for the introduction of bills in each
 
18 legislative session, the clerks of each house of the legislature
 
19 shall transmit, to the legislative auditor for analysis, copies
 
20 of all legislative bills that were introduced in their respective
 
21 houses during that session that propose to establish new special
 
22 or revolving funds.
 

 
 
 
Page 9                                                     2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1      The criteria to be used by the auditor in analyzing each
 
 2 legislative bill shall include, but not be limited to, the extent
 
 3 to which the fund:
 
 4      (1)  Serves the purpose for which it is being created; and
 
 5      (2)  Reflects a clear link between the benefit sought and
 
 6           changes made upon the users or beneficiaries of the
 
 7           program, as opposed to serving primarily as a means to
 
 8           provide the program or users with an automatic means of
 
 9           support which is removed from the normal budget and
 
10           appropriations process.
 
11 Each analysis shall set forth the probable effects of the
 
12 proposed fund and shall also assess alternative forms of funding.
 
13      No later than thirty days prior to the adjournment sine die
 
14 of each legislative session, the legislative auditor shall submit
 
15 the analysis of each transmitted legislative bill to each house
 
16 of the legislature."]
 
17      SECTION 10.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
18 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
19 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 to fund the
 
20 office of the legislative analyst.
 
21      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the legislature
 
22 for the purposes of this Act.
 

 
 
 
Page 10                                                    2544
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 11.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 2 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 3      SECTION 12.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval,
 
 4 except that section 10 shall take effect on July 1, 2000.