CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 161

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2017

RE:    H.B. No. 165

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 165, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC MEETINGS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require state and county boards to make meeting documents available for public inspection, provide notice of their availability and, to the greatest extent feasible, require boards to accommodate requests for electronic access;

     (2)  Permit state and county boards to allow oral testimony to be presented on each agenda item separately and at the time the item is first brought up for discussion;

     (3)  Account for emergency meetings and electronic documents in meeting notice requirements; and

     (4)  Establish requirements for posting the content of meeting minutes.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting language related to oral testimony at meetings;

     (2)  Specifying content requirements for written summaries of minutes that are not posted in written form;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2018, to afford state and county boards a period of time to comply with this measure; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 165, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 165, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM Chair	____________________________ SCOTT Y. NISHIMOTO Co-Chair
____________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN Co-Chair	____________________________ ROMY M. CACHOLA Co-Chair
____________________________ BREENE HARIMOTO Co-Chair