STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1102-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1873

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Exempt strategic planning retreats of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii from open meeting requirements if certain conditions are met;

(2) Require members of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to complete a governance training and attend the training at least once every two years thereafter;

(3) Require the Candidate Advisory Council for the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to ensure that all candidates presented to the Governor for nomination have certain subject matter experience and are not registered lobbyists who have lobbied on matters pertaining to the University of Hawaii within twelve months of nomination;

(4) Exempt the financial disclosures of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii as mandated by the State Ethics Code from being made public; and

(5) Require the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, in collaboration with the Candidate Advisory Council, to submit annual reports to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission; Public First Law Center; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; and Hawaii Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices.

Your Committee finds that effective governance of the University of Hawaii requires clear standards for board qualifications, training, and accountability. Your Committee further finds that enhancing governance practices through training requirements, clarified nomination criteria, reporting obligations, and limited open-meeting exemptions for non-decision-making strategic retreats promotes informed decision-making, transparency, and long-term institutional stability.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Limiting the exemption from the Open Meeting law to one strategic planning retreat per year; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair