STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2617

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2940

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2940, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Clarify that the State Ethics Code does not apply to University of Hawaii employees who are directly involved in the research or development of technology sponsored and approved by the University when performing technology transfer activities; and

     (2)  Require the Board of Regents to submit a written status report to the Legislature every two years.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawai‘i System, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Hawaii Venture Capital Association, Sultan Ventures, and XLR8UH.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

     Your Committee finds that the timely and efficient commercialization of intellectual property created by the University of Hawaii's basic and applied research can make valuable contributions to the economic health and diversification of the State.  The Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii has established a regulatory framework and compliance program to balance the unique benefits and ethical issues specific to university research and technology transfer, and that program incorporates long-standing ethical research principles and technology transfer regulations currently used by the federal government.  By clarifying sections of the State Ethics Code to exempt technology transfer activities, this measure will facilitate technology transfer at the University and benefit the State's economy.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Addressing the concerns raised by the Department of the Attorney General, and thus adopted in part the language from S.B. No. 2940 (Regular Session of 2016), as originally introduced, to clarify that certain sections of the State Ethics Code shall not apply to technology transfers sponsored by the University of Hawaii, rather than exempting University of Hawaii employees who perform technology transfer activities; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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. 2940, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2940, S.D. 2.

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

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair