STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3133

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1873

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, 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 and intent of this measure is to:

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

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

(3) Require the Candidate Advisory Council 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;

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

(5) Require the Board of Regents, 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 Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices.

Your Committee finds that the Board of Regents requires highly qualified, well-trained candidates and operational flexibility to efficiently govern the significant public resources within its purview. Since the existing public financial disclosure requirements for Regents were enacted over ten years ago, many highly qualified potential candidates have expressed privacy concerns that discouraged them from applying to be a Regent, contributing to difficulties replacing Regents whose terms have expired. This measure will improve the governance of one of the State's most impactful public institutions by supporting strategic planning and professional development for Regents.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that one six-hour strategic planning retreat of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii per year shall be exempt from open meeting requirements if certain conditions are met; and

(2) 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 Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.

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

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair