Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 314 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to exempt counties from chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the so-called "Sunshine law."

Your Committee received a letter in support of this measure signed by every member of the City Council of the City and County of Honolulu, and separate testimony in support from the Councilmember from the 6th District. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Office of Information Practices (OIP), the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and a concerned citizen.

Your Committee finds that application of the Sunshine law with respect to counties can be unduly burdensome. The law can be interpreted as prohibiting any interaction of two or more members of a city or county council, even at social events or cultural gatherings. Apparently, some past advisory opinions issued by the OIP have justified this onerous interpretation of the Sunshine law.

In addition, several Honolulu City Councilmembers testified that unlike the Hawaii State Legislature, the county councils are forced to accept testimony at every stage of the legislative process, which makes that process lengthy and unduly burdensome.

At the same time, your Committee recognizes that the Sunshine law is a vital component of the democratic process, which enables the public to voice its opinions on legislation and other matters, and to attend any hearing or meeting held by a public agency. Your Committee believes that the public's right to participate in the democratic process cannot be compromised in any way.

However, if the OIP is indeed interpreting the Sunshine law to prohibit county councilmembers from attending a social event together, then substance has unreasonably yielded to form.

Your Committee believes that an appropriate balance should be struck between the public's right to participate in the democratic process, and the county council's need to efficiently set policy for the county. Unfortunately, there appears to be much confusion, even among the parties involved, regarding the actual requirements of the Sunshine law with respect to the counties.

Therefore, your Committee has decided to pass this measure for purposes of further discussion by the Legislature.

For the time being, since all testifiers agreed that the measure as originally drafted is too broad in exempting all county boards, commissions, and councils from every requirement of the Sunshine law, your Committee has amended this measure by inserting language provided by the Honolulu City Council. As amended, city and county councils are exempt from the Sunshine law, and are instead subject to their county charter, ordinance, or council rule.

Your Committee intends to consider this issue further during this 2003 Regular Session.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 314, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 314, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.