STAND. COM. REP. NO. 795-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 2583
                                     H.D. 2




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which
was referred H.B. No. 2583, H.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OPEN MEETINGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the requirement
that board and commissions promulgate procedural rules pertaining
to meetings conducted by videoconference.

     Testimony in support of the bill was provided by the Office
of the Lieutenant Governor, the Office of Information Practices,
the Office of Youth Services, the University of Hawaii, Common
Cause Hawaii, and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.  The
Office of the Attorney General testified in support of the intent
of this bill.

     Your Committee finds that by making it easier for agencies,
boards, and commissions to conduct meetings by videoconference,
this bill will enhance public access to meetings and reduce the
cost of government operations.

     Your Committee amended this bill by reinserting the
provision repealing subsection (d) of section 92-3.5, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, which was inadvertently omitted in HD1. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 795-00
                                 Page 2

 
purpose of H.B. No. 2583, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and
recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto
as H.B. No. 2583, H.D. 2.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary &
                                   Hawaiian Affairs,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair