STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2413

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2597

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2597 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GIFTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish procedures for the custody, inventory, and care of protocol gifts received by legislators on behalf of the State or either house of the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission and Common Cause Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that there are no statutory guidelines for the treatment of protocol gifts accepted by legislators on behalf of the State or either house of the Legislature from government officials. Protocol gifts are often given to legislators by government officials from other jurisdictions as a token of goodwill or to strengthen international or national friendships. Failure to accept such a gift may cause embarrassment to the donor and the recipient. However, since these gifts were not accepted on the legislator's own behalf, these gifts are not required to be reported in the legislator's gifts disclosure statement. While many legislators keep an inventory of protocol gifts they receive in accordance with rules adopted by the State Senate or State House of Representatives, your Committee finds that a uniform set of procedures regarding the custody, inventory, and maintenance of these protocol gifts is necessary to prevent unintended loss, misplacement, or improper maintenance.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2597 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair