SCR58 SD1

WHEREAS, Hawaii's open meetings law, part I of chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, governs the manner in which state and county boards conduct business; and

WHEREAS, the intent of the Sunshine Law is to provide as much transparency as practical to allow public scrutiny and participation by providing requirements imposed on boards in the conduct of board business; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is among a minority of strict sunshine law states that do not require a board quorum to trigger application of open meeting laws, for example, Hawaii's Sunshine Law applies to board members when at least two members discuss board business; and

WHEREAS, while Hawaii's Sunshine Law provides a maximum of openness for public scrutiny and participation in public boards, a number of boards have encountered barriers to efficient operations that appear to them as unreasonable and unnecessary to ensure public accountability, for example, three board members are currently prohibited from attending informational meetings sponsored by other organizations, including legislative hearings where board business may be discussed; and

WHEREAS, a comprehensive review of the Sunshine Law is necessary in order to consider reasonable exceptions to the law that may be necessary to facilitate board business without undermining public trust and the principles of open government; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 107 (2006 Regular Session), the University of Hawaii's Public Policy Center conducted several meetings with board members and open government advocates in 2006 to discuss complaints on what was believed to be overly stringent provisions of the law, and recommended to the Legislature several amendments to the Sunshine Law, these proposed changes are receiving favorable consideration in the 2008 Regular Session; and

WHEREAS, the crafting of legislation to provide for additional exceptions to the Sunshine Law requires further research and rigorous discussion to carefully craft exceptions that provide practical solutions to barriers that thwart efficient board operations while maintaining public trust and government openness; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that a task force be convened to review the Sunshine Law, part I of chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the purpose of considering the necessity of possible exceptions to remove unnecessarily cumbersome obstacles to efficient board operations while maintaining public trust and open government principles; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be composed of fifteen members:

(1) Three members appointed by the President of the Senate;

(2) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(3) The Director of the Office of Information Practices or the Director's designee;

(4) A representative from the League of Women Voters of Hawaii;

(5) A representative from the Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter;

(6) A representative from the Honolulu Media Council;

(7) A representative from each county council; and

(8) A representative from Common Cause Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of the Office of Information Practices or the Director's designee is requested to convene the first meeting of the task force, and the task force shall elect its chair; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Information Practices is requested to provide administrative and staff support for the task force, including drafting a report to the Legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to provide legislative drafting services for the drafting of recommended legislation by the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to review the Sunshine Law and submit recommendations in a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the start of the Regular Session of 2009, including recommendations for exceptions to the Sunshine Law that are necessary to address cumbersome obstacles to efficient board operations; provided that the recommended exceptions should be limited to and narrowly address specific circumstances that the task force believes should be addressed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Information Practices, the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, the Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter, the Honolulu Community Media Council, Common Cause Hawaii, the Mayor of each county, and the Governor.

Report Title:

Sunshine Law Task Force

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	58
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII