STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1949

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 169

H.D. 1

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 169, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE ETHICS CODE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify provisions of the State Ethics Code regarding gift disclosure statements, retention of financial disclosure statements, transcripts from contested case hearings, and ethics training.

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

Your Committee finds that under existing law, certain provisions of the State Ethics Code contain inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and overly burdensome administrative requirements. Your Committee further finds that issues exist in provisions regarding the filing of gift disclosure statements, retention of financial disclosure statements, access to transcripts from contested case hearings, and the frequency of required ethics training. This measure addresses these issues and improves administration of the State Ethics Code by eliminating the double filing requirement of gift disclosure statements, reducing the unnecessary administrative burden on Ethics Commission staff by only requiring records to be kept for six years after the filing date of each financial disclosure statement, eliminating language that restricted access to transcripts, and providing flexibility for participants in mandatory ethics training sessions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 169, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 169, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair