Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 905 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to enhance the effectiveness of Hawaii's Lobbyist Law.

Testimony in favor of the measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Ethics Commission (Commission), Common Cause Hawaii, and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the current method of enforcing the State's lobbyist law has not been effective. Currently, a violation of this law may be prosecuted by the Attorney General (AG) as a petty misdemeanor. Given the workload of AG, infractions of the lobbyist law have not been deemed a priority.

Because a violation of the lobbyist law constitutes a petty misdemeanor, the statute of limitations on prosecution is only one year. Usually, by the time the Commission is made aware of a possible violation, the one-year period has been exhausted.

Furthermore, section 97-6(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), currently requires the Commission to convene a contested case hearing in accordance with chapter 91, HRS, whenever the Commission deems it necessary to act upon an alleged violation. Because of this, your Committee asserts that section 97-6.5, HRS, which restates this requirement, is not necessary.

After careful consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by:

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 purpose of S.B. No. 905, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 905, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.