EXECUTIVE CHAMBERS

EXECUTIVE CHAMBERS

HONOLULU

June 20, 2003

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIONS TO SENATE BILL NO. 41

Honorable Members

Twenty-Second Legislature

State of Hawaii

Pursuant to Section 16 of Article III of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, I am returning herewith, without my approval, Senate Bill No. 41, entitled, "A Bill for an Act Relating to Public Contracts."

The purpose of this bill is to require the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) to disclose its publicly funded contracts and subcontracts by specifically subjecting them to the disclosure requirements of the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA), chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, except for any information deemed proprietary by the person providing the information to the HTA.

This bill is objectionable because it invites confusion and accomplishes the opposite of the intent of disclosure and openness that was articulated by the Legislature in its committee reports.

The HTA is already subject to the disclosure requirements of the UIPA. Instead of requiring full disclosure, this bill provides an exemption from disclosure. Under this bill, this exemption would be invoked by persons providing information to the HTA.

Whether or not information is proprietary should be determined by the Office of Information Practices (OIP) under the provisions of chapter 92F, and not by the provider of the information.

This bill needs to be reworked by changing who determines whether information is proprietary from the provider of the information to the OIP. So changed, it could receive my enthusiastic support.

For the foregoing reasons, I am returning Senate Bill No. 41 without my approval.

Respectfully,

 

 

LINDA LINGLE

Governor of Hawaii