STAND. COM. REP. NO.1383
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: S.B. No. 1207
S.D. 1
H.D. 2
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 1207, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) Require the University of Hawaii (UH) General Counsel to advise its clients on how to avoid future claims and request clients to take corrective action no later than October 1st of each year;
(2) Require UH to submit a confidential report to selected members of the Legislature relating to claims;
(3) Ensure that the disclosure of information to the Legislature does not constitute a waiver of confidentiality, and the disclosed information shall be protected from discovery or from use for any purpose in any proceeding involving the UH;
(4) Clarify that UH's immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment was not abrogated by Act 115, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998; and
(5) Specify that settlements of claims or judgments against UH may be made from legislative appropriations.
UH submitted testimony in support of this bill.
To clarify that UH has immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment, your Committee has amended this bill by repealing section 304-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), relating to suits brought by and against UH, and replacing it with a new section in chapter 304, HRS, also relating to UH suits. This new section specifies that:
(1) UH may only sue and be sued in its corporate name;
(2) UH shall only be subject to suit in the manner provided for suits against the State;
(3) Any liability incurred by UH through such a suit shall be a liability of the State; and
(4) For purposes of the section, the UH Board of Regents are "employees of the State" as used in chapter 662, HRS.
Your Committee has also amended this bill by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of style and clarity.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1207, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1207, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,
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____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair |