STAND. COM. REP. NO 607

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 509

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 509 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the Attorney General to prepare a statement for each proposed constitutional amendment in plain English that indicates the purpose, limitations, and effects of the proposed amendment;

     (2)  Require the Attorney General to distribute each statement to the Office of Elections and all county clerks for further distribution; and

     (3)  Require the Office of Elections and county clerks to make each statement available to the public in all physical or online sites where they make proposed constitutional amendment questions available to the public.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the League of Women Voters, Common Cause Hawaii, and three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that there are voters who fail to vote on proposed constitutional amendments because they are unaware of the proposed constitutional amendments or do not understand the meaning, purpose, or impact of the proposed constitutional amendments.  This measure will assist in voter education efforts and help voters better understand the proposed constitutional amendments and gain a higher comfort level when voting on those ballot questions.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059.

     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. 509, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 509, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair