Report Title:

Public Financial Disclosure Statements; Boards and Commissions

Description:

Requires members of ten boards and commissions to file financial disclosure statements that are open to public review.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1654
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that financial disclosure statements filed by members of boards and commissions with the state ethics commission are not made public.  Some board members are vested with authority to run departments, and are thus entrusted with significant policy and financial decisions.  This Act identifies ten boards and commissions whose members file financial disclosures that are not released for public review, but who exercise authority equivalent to executive branch departments headed by a single executive.

     Confidential disclosures keep the public unaware of potential conflicts of interest between a board or commission's work and their members' personal affairs.  While the confidential disclosure statements are received and reviewed by the Hawaii state ethics commission, the commission is generally not aware of the issues that the approximately one hundred fifty boards and commissions handle on a day-to-day basis.  Individuals who deal with these boards and commissions are in the best position to determine whether board or commission members have conflicts of interest.  Public disclosure statements are necessary so that those who appear before boards and commissions can assure themselves that board or commission members have no conflicts of interest, or if they do, that they may recuse themselves.

     The legislature further finds that public disclosure statements build public confidence in state government.  While some board and commission members may feel reluctant to serve if required to make public financial disclosures, the legislature finds that the interests of the public outweigh these concerns when members are charged with significant discretionary and fiscal powers.

     The purpose of this Act is to make ethics requirements consistent between public officials exercising equivalent authority and to assure the public that these public officials are performing their duties without conflicts of interest.

     SECTION 2.  Section 84-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

     "(d)  The financial disclosure statements of the following persons shall be public records and available for inspection and duplication:

     (1)  The governor, the lieutenant governor, the members of the legislature, candidates for and delegates to the constitutional convention, the members of the board of education, the trustees of the office of Hawaiian affairs, and candidates for state elective offices;

     (2)  The directors of the state departments and their deputies, regardless of the titles by which the foregoing persons are designated; provided that with respect to the department of the attorney general, the foregoing shall apply only to the attorney general and the first deputy attorney general;

     (3)  The administrative director of the State;

     (4)  The president, the vice presidents, the assistant vice presidents, the chancellors, and the provosts of the University of Hawaii;

     (5)  The superintendent, the deputy superintendent, the state librarian, and the deputy state librarian of the department of education;

     (6)  The administrative director and the deputy director of the courts; [and]

     (7)  The administrator and the assistant administrator of the office of Hawaiian affairs[.]; and

(8) The members of the following boards and commissions:

(A) The board of agriculture;

(B) The Hawaii community development authority;

(C) The board of trustees of the employees' retirement system;

(D) The Hawaiian homes commission;

(E) The board of land and natural resources;

(F) The land use commission;

(G) The public utilities commission;

(H) The board of directors of the research corporation of the University of Hawaii;

(I) The board of regents of the University of Hawaii; and

(J) The Hawaii tourism authority;

provided that with respect to any person described in this paragraph, no disclosures regarding the value of the financial interests held by the person, including disclosures made using a financial amount code that conveys a range of values, shall be required."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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