STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1017-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: S.B. No. 3185
S.D. 1
H.D. 1
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. 3185, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INFORMATION PRACTICES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to prevent abuse of the process for requesting government records by authorizing the Office of Information Practices (OIP) to declare that a person is a vexatious requester.
OIP and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism testified in support of this bill. The Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter, commented on this measure and offered suggestions.
Your Committee finds that this measure will alleviate pressure on government agency personnel to respond to unnecessarily burdensome requests that are made for purposes other than those for which the Uniform Information Practices Act was enacted. This measure will allow government agencies to make timely responses to legitimate requests for government records.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Adding a provision to allow a person determined to be a vexatious requester and whose request has been restricted by OIP, to ask for Ombudsman review of the restriction to ensure that it is narrowly tailored to the abusive pattern of conduct, and to authorize the Ombudsman to affirm, modify, or overturn any such restriction;
(2) Providing that any designation of a person as a vexatious requester is limited to two years from the date of the determination;
(3) Incorporating a reference to the authority provided to OIP by this bill, in the list of OIP's powers and duties under section 92F-42, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to facilitate further discussion; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.
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. 3185, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3185, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
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