STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1365

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   S.B. No. 14

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 14, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve the governance of the University of Hawaii (UH) pursuant to Article X, section 6 of the State Constitution, as amended and approved by voters in 2006, by, among other things:

     (1)  Modifying the process of appointing the members of the UH Board of Regents (BOR) by establishing a Candidate Advisory Council (Council) to qualify, screen, and present to the Governor pools of qualified candidates from which the Governor shall appoint BOR members with the consent of the Senate;

     (2)  Increasing BOR membership from 12 to 15 members, and requiring a specified number of members to represent different geographic areas;

     (3)  Allowing state officers to be eligible for BOR membership;

     (4)  Modifying the length of service of each BOR member from four-year terms to no more than two consecutive five-year terms;

     (5)  Requiring that at least three months prior to the expiration of the member's first five-year term, the Senate must consider the question of whether to reconfirm the member's position on the BOR; and

     (6)  Allowing a BOR member to serve beyond the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor has been appointed and has been confirmed by the Senate.

     The Hawaii Government Employees Association testified in support of this bill.  The Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor opposed this measure.  UH and the Office of Information Practices offered comments.

     Your Committee would like to clarify that the purpose of providing for staggered terms of BOR members is to prevent a large number of members from leaving at the same time.  Accordingly, in addition to the provisions already in this bill, this bill has been amended by specifying that current BOR members shall serve their full terms.

     Your Committee also wishes to state its intent that if a BOR member with an initial appointment of two years or less is reappointed to another term of five years, the member is still eligible to be reappointed to a second, consecutive five-year term.  This bill has been amended to clarify this intent.

     This bill has been further amended by:

     (1)  Specifying that the Council is wholly exempt from Part I of Chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, rather than just the Council's meetings; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 14, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 14, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair