Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1969, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the Department of Education (DOE) to employ attorneys to support its legal interests.

Your Committee finds that allowing the Department of Education to retain its own legal counsel will significantly improve the response time of its requests for legal assistance. At the present time, a request to the Department of the Attorney General may not be as timely as necessary when the DOE needs a legal opinion to act on student, parent, or administrative matters. This puts the entire DOE and staff at a disadvantage and unfairly heightens the public image of the DOE as an agency that is bureaucratic and obstructionist. This measure will help improve the reaction time and give the DOE more flexibility.

Your Committee notes that the Board of Education will be responsible for fixing compensation of these attorneys. The Board will still be able to seek the services of the Attorney General.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1969, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.