STAND. COM. REP. NO. 684

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 182

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. 182 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISCLOSURES OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish that certain candidates shall file disclosures of financial interests no later than ten days after the nomination filing deadline;

(2) Establish that the unauthorized release of confidential financial disclosure information is subject to chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(3) Amend the fines imposed and procedures relating to disclosures of financial interests.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that current financial disclosure law requires legislators, employees, and candidates to file financial disclosure statements. Presently, failure to submit a financial disclosure results in a $75 administrative fine, notification from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, and an assessment of an additional $10 per day fine for every additional day the financial disclosure remains unfiled. As the current process for financial disclosures is treated similarly to other ethics violations, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission must proceed through a contested case hearing process, a lengthy process that can become cumbersome if there are multiple outstanding unfiled financial disclosures. This measure streamlines the enforcement process for financial disclosure penalties to ensure efficiency while also maintaining accountability.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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. 182, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 182, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair