Exempts county councils from open meeting requirements by allowing internal rules and procedures to be established by county councils in the spirit of the sunshine law.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's sunshine law, as found in chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), was enacted to ensure that the formation and conduct of public policy is open to public scrutiny and participation.

Because of the unique nature of legislative bodies, compared to other governmental agencies and boards, the legislature provided itself an exemption from the requirements of chapter 92, HRS. With regard to open meeting requirements, the law allows each chamber of the legislature to regulate their own enforcement, penalties, and sanctions.

Although it would be ideal for lawmakers to hold hearings on every bill introduced, this would be impossible given the volume of measures and the complexity of issues they face during the legislative calendar. More than two thousand bills are introduced in each chamber of the legislature each session. While some of these bills may be technical in nature, the vast majority deal with issues of concern for the people of Hawaii.

While county councils have similar workloads and often face the same kind of time constraints as the legislature, county councils are not afforded the same exemption under the sunshine law. As a result, county councils must hold public hearings whenever any issue under their jurisdiction is discussed. A recent attorney general opinion stated that if two council members choose to discuss an issue under the council's jurisdiction, a public hearing notice must be filed and the discussion must be held only at a meeting open to the public.

Since, unlike the legislature, county councils are subject to the open meeting requirements of chapter 92, HRS, the county legislative process is prolonged. In addition, this restricts the ability of county councils to fully deliberate on issues before taking action. The legislature believes that there is a need to provide county councils with the flexibility to set their own meeting requirements--requirements that realistically follow the spirit of the sunshine law.

The purpose of this Act is to allow open meeting requirements and provisions regarding the enforcement, penalties, and sanctions applicable to county councils to be governed by the internal rules and procedures of the county councils. However, it is the intent of the legislature that this Act should not be construed to infringe upon the rights of citizens to open government as provided in chapter 92, HRS.

SECTION 2. Section 92-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§92-10 Legislative branch; applicability. Notwithstanding any provisions contained in this chapter to the contrary, open meeting requirements, and provisions regarding enforcement, penalties, and sanctions, as they are to relate to the state legislature or to the county councils, or to any of [its] their respective members, shall be [such as shall be from time to time] prescribed by the respective rules and procedures of the senate [and], the house of representatives, and the county councils, which rules and procedures shall take precedence over this part. Similarly, provisions relating to notice, agenda, and minutes of meetings, and such other requirements as may be necessary, shall also be governed by the respective rules and procedures of the senate [and], the house of representatives[.], and the county councils."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.