STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1214

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 741

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 741, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ETHICS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require certain Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission records to be retained permanently.

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

Your Committee finds that the maintenance of records by the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission is vital to transparency and integrity in state government. Your Committee further finds that the period of record maintenance should be increased in light of increased capacity for storing digital copies of records. Your Committee additionally finds, however, that maintaining all lobbying records in perpetuity will eventually place an undue burden on the storage capacity of the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the retention period to six years;

(2) Requiring records to be maintained, instead of preserved, for consistency with financial disclosure statutes; and

(3) 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. 741, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 741, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair