Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 785, S.D. 2, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to allow public meetings by video teleconferencing to continue even if the video portion of the transmission is interrupted or stopped.

The Office of Information Practices and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation testified in support of this bill.

Your Committee concurs with the basic intent of this bill but finds that, as drafted, certain provisions need greater clarity. Currently, a videoconference meeting must be terminated if both the audio and video transmissions cannot be maintained at all meeting locations. This bill initially requires that a videoconference meeting be terminated if just the audio transmission cannot be maintained. However, it then specifies the criteria that must be met to allow such a meeting to proceed with only the audio transmission.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:

As amended, a videoconference meeting must be terminated when both the audio and video transmissions cannot be maintained at all meeting locations. However, a meeting may continue with just the audio transmission alone if certain criteria are met.

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. 785, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 785, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.