Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 3113, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill as received is to exempt the residents of the County of Kalawao (Kalaupapa Settlement) from absentee ballot application requirements under section 15-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The Maui County Clerk and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill. The Office of Elections supported this measure and suggested an amendment.

Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting the contents of H.B. No. 369, entitled, A Bill for an Act Proposing an Amendment to Article V of the Hawaii Constitution to Provide for the Election of the Attorney General.

Your Committee scheduled H.B. No. 369 for hearing on the same agenda as S.B. No. 3113, S.D. 1. The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu testified in support of H.B. No. 369. The Campaign Spending Commission testified in support of H.B. No. 369 and suggested an amendment. The Department of the Attorney General opposed H.B. No. 369.

Your Committee finds that allowing the public to vote on candidates for the office of the Attorney General will spark public interest in the role of the State's chief legal officer, whose policies may have far-reaching impact on our society and environment. On further consideration, your Committee also finds that it would be in the best interest of the State to have an elected insurance commissioner to represent the financial interests of our citizens in a manner free of partisan politics.

Accordingly, your Committee has further amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3113, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3113, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.