HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	171
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

COMMITTING TO PROVIDE GREATER PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS BY ADOPTING RULES TO ALLOW FOR VIRTUAL TESTIMONY, RECORDED HEARINGS, AND INTERNET BROADCASTS OF HEARINGS BEYOND PERIODS OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.

WHEREAS, public access to the Legislature and the legislative process allows for citizens of Hawaii to actively engage in decisions impacting their everyday life; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature has committed to providing greater public access for citizens interested in the legislative process, beginning with Act 331, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989, to improve public access to legislative information; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's unique geography as an archipelago of islands poses significant challenges for residents from the counties of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii to actively participate due to costly, time-consuming travel to attend hearings, and to provide in-person, oral testimony; and

WHEREAS, the lack of remote hearing and testimony procedures impacts approximately four hundred thousand residents in the State; and

WHEREAS, the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created great challenges to all individuals interested in participating in the legislative process; and

WHEREAS, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical access to the Capitol building, hearings, and live testimony was restricted due to social distancing guidelines; and

WHEREAS, during the emergency stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions, legislators, staff, and members of the public could not attend public meetings in person; and

WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the implementation of emergency measures suspending certain requirements of the State's sunshine law in order to allow boards and commissions to continue meeting and conduct necessary business while protecting participants' health and safety and expanding public access to meetings throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, remote meetings can connect people in different physical locations through the use of interactive conference technology and thus enable enhanced legislative and public participation; and

WHEREAS, remote meetings can be safely held and allow more people from different islands or parts of islands to effectively participate, often during times when they would not otherwise be physically able or authorized to leave their work, homes, or schools to participate in an in-person meeting; and

WHEREAS, during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote meetings helped to prevent the spread of disease, and even when there is no pandemic, remote meetings can be a way to protect the health and safety of participants; and

WHEREAS, remote meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic also allowed the elderly and individuals who have disabilities or medical conditions that would place them at greater risks during travel or attendance at in-person public meetings to participate in the legislative process; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, each house of the Legislature adopted rules on remote hearings and testimony that allowed members of the public to continue participation through virtual conferencing platforms; and

WHEREAS, the successful utilization of virtual attendance and remote testimony procedures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic supports the continuation of pandemic-era rules to allow for greater public access to the legislative process; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that this body is committed to providing greater public access to the legislative process by adopting rules to allow virtual testimony, recorded hearings, and internet broadcasts of hearings beyond periods of catastrophic events.

Report Title:

Interactive Conference Technology; Remote Meetings; Accessibility; Sunshine Law