STAND. COM. REP. NO. 718

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 631

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 631 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ETHICS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Exempt gifts received by an elected or appointed official on behalf of the State from the gift reporting requirements under the Code of Ethics; and

     (2)  Require the gift to be publicly recorded as property of the State and allow the gift to remain with the official's agency or be transferred to the State Archives or State Foundation on Culture and the Arts at the end of the official's term.

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

     Your Committee finds that elected or appointed officials will periodically accept gifts, such as a piece of artwork given by a foreign dignitary, on the State's behalf.  Although existing law does not require such gifts to be reported, this measure explicitly exempts gifts accepted by an elected or appointed official from the gift reporting laws and requires those gifts to remain as the State's property upon the expiration of the elected or appointed official's term.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adopting the language suggested by the Hawaii State Ethics Commission that clarifies that a gift subject to this measure must be a gift received by an elected or appointed official on behalf of the State that is tangible and nonperishable;

     (2)  Clarifying that the option to retain or transfer the gift applies to state agencies;

     (3)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

     (4)  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. 631, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 631, 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,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair