STAND. COM. REP. NO. 671

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 476

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 476 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISCLOSURES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the State Ethics Commission to provide a confidential copy of board and commission members' most recent financial disclosures to the Governor, all other members of the filer's board or commission, and executive director of the applicable agency; and

     (2)  Require the recipients of the disclosures to maintain the confidentiality of the disclosures.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission and Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation.

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires annual financial disclosure statements to be filed with the Hawaii State Ethics Commission by members of every state board or commission whose original terms of office are for periods exceeding one year and whose functions are not solely advisory.  These financial disclosure statements help inform the public of whether a board or commission member may have a potential conflict of interest.  This measure enables the Governor, other members, and executive director of the applicable agency of each respective board or commission to determine if any member may have a conflict of interest in voting on any particular matter before the respective board or commission.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the purpose section in section 1; and

     (2)  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 and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 476, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 476, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair