STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1261

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1209

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1209, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE BROADCAST PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve access to and knowledge of public hearings and informational briefings held at the State Capitol.

     More specifically, this measure requires the legislative broadcast program to:

     (1)  Make an audio or audiovisual recording of all public hearings and informational briefings held at the State Capitol; and

     (2)  Maintain an archive of the recordings and make them available to the public.  

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Common Cause Hawaii and Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Legislative Reference Bureau.

     Your Committee finds that public access to and knowledge of legislative hearings and informational briefings promotes governmental transparency and contributes to an informed public.  Your Committee believes that this measure would help increase the public's participation in government proceedings.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the appropriation to an unspecified sum; and

     (2)  Changing the expending agency from the Legislative Reference Bureau to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

     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 H.B. No. 1209, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1209, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair