STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1081

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1122

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1122 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ADVICE AND CONSENT OF THE SENATE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require nominees for the position of Deputy Director, First Deputy, or Deputy Chair, as the case may be, of principal departments to be subject to advice and consent of the Senate.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that nominees for the positions of Deputy Director, First Deputy, and Deputy Chair should be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, and such process should be codified in law. These positions are key leadership roles, and therefore hold significant authority and influence, both in executing the core duties of the departments and also in the executive branch as a whole. Codifying the practice of advice and consent for these positions would absolve any legal ambiguity as to the process and ensure that the nominees also are worthy and knowledgeable to execute the duties and responsibilities of the departments.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language to require multiple deputy directors, first deputies, and deputy chairs, as the case may be, for each department that has multiple individuals who serve in the same role to also be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate;

(2) Adding language that requires a person to file a disclosure of financial interest within thirty days of a person's nomination to any state position enumerated in section 84-17(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, that is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate; 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 S.B. No. 1122, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1122, S.D. 1.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair