STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1155-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2388

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. 2388, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC NOTICE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow government agencies to satisfy public notice requirements by posting notices on official state or county websites, while retaining publication as an option.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices; State Procurement Office; and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that existing law requiring publication of government notices in newspapers of general circulation is outdated in the age of increased digital access and no longer provides adequate notice to the public. By allowing the posting of notices on official state and county websites, this measure will provide greater transparency, accessibility, and timeliness.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Restoring language that:

(A) Requires the comptroller to determine a publication for all government agencies to go to one source of publication for published public notice on each island; and

(B) Provides that proof of a publication is the affidavit of the printer, publisher, principal clerk, or business manager of the newspaper or other publication or of the designated agent of the group that published the notice;

(2) Repealing language that authorized additional supplemental public notice to be given through Hawaii FYI;

(3) Deleting language that would have amended existing statutes that require a notice to be published pursuant to the public notice requirements; and

(4) 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. 2388, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2388, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair