SB2248 SD1

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to promote governmental transparency and strengthen public confidence in the State's appointments process by requiring that nominees to certain state positions requiring senate confirmation file financial disclosure statements prior to their confirmation hearings.

Under existing law, individuals appointed to certain state positions must file financial disclosure statements within thirty days of their appointment. However, this deadline often results in disclosure statements becoming publicly available only after the senate conducts its confirmation hearings, limiting the ability of senators and the public to review potential conflicts of interest in advance.

This Act ensures that financial disclosure statements for nominees subject to senate confirmation are filed in a timely manner, facilitating meaningful public review. In addition, this Act modernizes existing statutory financial disclosure requirements by aligning legislative disclosures with information already provided in lobbyist expenditure statements.

SECTION 2. Section 84-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsections (b) through (d) to read:

"(b) The disclosure of financial interests required by this section shall be filed:

(1) By any person enumerated in subsection (c), except a member of the legislature, between January 1 and May 31 of each year;

(2) By a member of the legislature between January 1 and January 31 of each year;

(3) Within thirty days of a person's election or appointment to a state position enumerated in subsection (c); or

(4) Within thirty days of separation from a state position if a prior financial disclosure statement for the position was not filed within the one hundred eighty days preceding the date of separation;

provided that candidates for state elective offices or the constitutional convention shall file the required statements no later than ten days after the nomination filing deadline established pursuant to section 12-6[.]; provided further that persons nominated to a position subject to senate confirmation, excluding state court justices and judges, shall file the required statements no later than five days after being nominated or five days before the first confirmation hearing, whichever occurs first.

(1) The governor, lieutenant governor, members of the legislature, and delegates to the constitutional convention; provided that delegates to the constitutional convention shall only be required to file initial disclosures;

(2) The directors and their deputies, the division chiefs, the executive directors and the executive secretaries and their deputies, the purchasing agents, and the fiscal officers, regardless of the titles by which the foregoing persons are designated, of every state agency and department;

(3) The permanent employees of the legislature and its service agencies, other than persons employed in clerical, secretarial, or similar positions;

(4) The administrative director of the State, and the assistants in the office of the governor and lieutenant governor, other than persons employed in clerical, secretarial, or similar positions;

(5) The hearings officers of every state agency and department;

(6) The president, vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, chancellors, and provosts of the [~~University~~] university of Hawaii and its community colleges;

(7) The superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendents, complex area superintendents, state librarian, and deputy state librarian of the department of education;

(8) The administrative director and deputy director of the courts;

(9) The 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;

(10) Candidates for state elective offices, including candidates for election to the constitutional convention; provided that candidates shall only be required to file initial disclosures;

(11) The administrator and assistant administrator of the office of Hawaiian affairs;

(12) The Hawaii unmanned aerial systems test site chief operating officer; [~~and~~]

(13) The members of the school facilities board appointed by the governor[.]; and

(14) Persons nominated to a position subject to senate confirmation, excluding state court justices and judges; provided that nominees shall only be required to file initial disclosures in advance of their confirmation hearings.

(d) The financial disclosure statements of the following persons shall be public records and available for inspection and duplication:

(1) The governor, lieutenant governor, members of the legislature, candidates for and delegates to the constitutional convention, trustees of the office of Hawaiian affairs, [~~and~~] candidates for state elective offices[;], and nominees for state positions subject to senate confirmation, excluding state court justices and judges;

(2) The directors of the state departments and their deputies, regardless of the titles by which the foregoing persons are designated; provided that with respect to the department of the attorney general, the foregoing shall apply only to the attorney general and the first deputy attorney general;

(3) The administrative director of the State;

(4) The president, vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, chancellors, members of the board of regents, and provosts of the [~~University~~] university of Hawaii;

(5) The members of the board of education, superintendent, deputy superintendent, state librarian, and deputy state librarian of the department of education;

(6) The administrative director and deputy director of the courts;

(7) The administrator and assistant administrator of the office of Hawaiian affairs; and

(8) The members of the following state boards, commissions, and agencies:

(A) The board of directors of the agribusiness development corporation established under section 163D-3;

(B) The board of agriculture and biosecurity established under section 26-16;

(D) The Hawaii community development authority established under section 206E-3;

(E) The Hawaiian homes commission established under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, and section 26-17;

(F) The board of directors of the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation established under section 201H-3;

(G) The board of land and natural resources established under section 171-4;

(H) The state land use commission established under section 205-1;

(I) The legacy land conservation commission established under section 173A-2.4;

(J) The natural area reserves system commission established under section 195-6;

(K) The board of directors of the natural energy laboratory of Hawaii authority established under section 227D-2;

(L) The board of directors of the Hawaii public housing authority established under section 356D‑3;

(M) The public utilities commission established under section 269-2;

(N) The commission on water resource management established under section 174C-7; and

(O) The stadium authority established under section 109-1."

2. By amending subsection (g) to read:

"(g) In addition to the disclosures required under subsection (f), each [~~member of the legislature~~] legislator shall also disclose the name of any person that is subject to section 97-3 and that is:

(1) A business partner of the [~~member;~~] legislator;

(2) An employer of the [~~member;~~] legislator;

(3) An officer or director of the [~~member's~~] legislator's employer; or

(4) A client of the [~~member, member's partner,~~] legislator, legislator's spouse, or [~~member's~~] the legislator's employer, [~~who is on the lobbyist list and not just a client with a lobbyist, where the client~~] who filed a statement of expenditures pursuant to section 97-3 and provided at least $5,000 of income during the preceding calendar year.

As used in this subsection[:

~~"Member" means a member of the legislature.~~

~~"Member's partner" means a member's~~], "legislator's spouse" means a legislator's spouse under chapter 572, civil union partner under chapter 572B, or reciprocal beneficiary under chapter 572C."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2248
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII