STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2738

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2263

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2263, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to publicly disclose certain information in open meetings.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly and one individual.  The Office of Information Practices submitted comments.

     The information to be disclosed under this measure is:

     (1)  Compensation offered to newly hired employees;

     (2)  Changes in compensation offered to existing employees for administrative positions in the University of Hawaii System filled by excluded employees; and

     (3)  All budgetary expenditures made by the Board of Regents.

     Over the past few years, salaries of University of Hawaii faculty and administrators have dramatically increased.  They have escalated to the point that approximately four hundred and seventy-three faculty and administrators are currently paid salaries that exceed the salary of the Governor of Hawaii, which makes the matter one of statewide importance and concern.  Recently, much of the University's management and operations has been called into question, including its current practice of preventing public access to information on the potential salaries of new faculty and administrators and expenditures of the Board of Regents.  The public disclosure of information on the salaries of new hires at the University of Hawaii and for raises for top administrators will enable the public to more fully participate in the affairs of this public institution.

     The intent of this measure is to afford the public the opportunity to review and comment on the compensation of excluded employees of the University of Hawaii and the expenditures of the Board of Regents.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical amendments as suggested by the Hawaii Government Employees Association to clarify that administrative employees of the University of Hawaii are executive/managerial employees under collective bargaining unit 8 and excluded employees represented by AFSCME.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2263, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2263, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair