STAND. COM. REP. NO. 193

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 960

       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 Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 960 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PERSONAL PRIVACY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to specify that certain content of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homestead applicant and lessee files are not required to be disclosed or made open to public inspection.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Department of the Attorney General, Ka Lahui Hawaii Political Action Committee, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homeland Assembly, Kamuela Homesteaders Association, Waimanalo Hawaiian Homes Association, and numerous individuals.  Your Committee received comments from the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest.  Your Committee received comments from the Office of Information Practices.

     Your Committee finds that the relationship between the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and its applicants and lessees is unique from relationships between other agencies and members of the public which they serve.  The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is required to maintain records of beneficiaries that are highly personal, involving their home and families.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  On the recommendation of the Attorney General, clarifying that certain government records maintained by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homestead applicant and lessee files are not required to be publicly disclosed or made open to inspection pursuant to a public records request; 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 Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 960, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 960, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

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MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair