STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1588

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1257

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 1257, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve the governance of the University of Hawaii (UH) by, among other things:

(1) Modifying the process of appointing the members of the UH Board of Regents (BOR) by establishing a Candidate Advisory Council to determine the criteria for, screen, and propose qualified candidates from which the Governor can choose;

(2) Changing the number of BOR members from 12 to 11;

(3) Removing the prohibition that no more than six members of the BOR may be members of the same political party;

(4) Specifying the geographic areas that must be represented by a certain number of BOR members;

(5) Modifying the length of service of each BOR member from four-year terms to two consecutive five-year terms;

(6) Establishing that at least three months prior to the conclusion of a BOR member's first five-year term, the Senate must consider the question of whether to reconfirm the member's position on the BOR; and

(7) Clarifying that every BOR member may serve beyond the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor has been appointed, has qualified, and has been confirmed by the Senate.

The UH Professional Assembly testified in support of this bill. The Hawaii Government Employees Association supported the intent of this measure.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Clarifying that each BOR member shall serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1257, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1257, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

		____________________________ DWIGHT TAKAMINE, Chair