STAND. COM. REP. NO. 142

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 25

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 25 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to provide for the expenses of the Legislature and its service agencies.

     More specifically, this measure provides for the expenses of the Legislature, the Office of the Auditor, the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Office of the Ombudsman, the State Ethics Commission, the Legislative Information System, and the Legislative Broadcast System.

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Office of the Auditor, the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Office of the Ombudsman, the State Ethics Commission.

     Your Committee notes that S.B. No. 638, S.D. 1, was passed by the Legislature earlier this session.  That measure also contained an appropriation to cover the expenses of the Legislature, the Office of the Auditor, the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Office of the Ombudsman, the State Ethics Commission, the Legislative Information System, and the Legislative Broadcast System.  Unfortunately, the constitutionally-mandated declaration that the general fund expenditure ceiling for the 2006-2007 fiscal year had been exceeded was inadvertently omitted from that measure.  Your Committee has included such a declaration in this measure to reflect that the appropriations out of the current fiscal year that are contained in this measure will exceed the general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2006-2007 by an additional $21,339,523, or an additional 0.40 per cent.  In all other aspects regarding content, this measure is identical to S.B. No. 638, S.D. 1.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 25, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 25, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair