Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 183, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the Campaign Spending Commission and the Office of Elections to communicate directly with the Legislature or the Governor, make personnel decisions, and purchase equipment without the approval of the department head.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Campaign Spending Commission, Hawaii Clean Elections Coalition, and the League of Women Voters. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Your Committee is very concerned about recent developments regarding administrative attachments of certain boards and commissions to their departments. Specifically, an issue arose of whether the Campaign Spending Commission and the Office of Elections have the autonomy to testify on their own behalf in legislative hearings. It has been represented to your Committee that in order for the Campaign Spending Commission to testify at a legislative hearing, prior consent or approval must come from the head of the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Your Committee believes that prior approval or review by the head of the department is not necessary, and both the Campaign Spending Commission and the Office of Elections have the autonomy to communicate directly with the Governor or Legislature. It is for this reason that your Committee further believes that this measure is necessary to ensure the independence of the Campaign Spending Commission and the Office of Elections by specifically allowing both to:

Your Committee has amended this measure by exempting the Office of Elections from section 26-35(1), (4), and (5), Hawaii Revised Statutes, which relates to the same activities.

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. 183, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 183, S.D. 2.