STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3202

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2388

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 Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 2388, H.D. 2, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

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

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the State Procurement Office, Office of Information Practices, and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that existing statute requires government notices to be published in newspapers of general circulation, but this law needs updating to adapt to the current era of electronic media. While posting government notices on official state and county websites would address this issue, your Committee acknowledges that certain members of the public still use newspapers to access government information. This measure will provide greater transparency, accessibility, and timeliness in government activity for all members of the public.

Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony that there is currently no centralized government system where the public can access every state and county public notice on a single website. While allowing the State and each county to publish public notices on their respective websites helps meet the intent of this measure, the lack of consistency and standardization in publication would raise its own accessibility and timeliness issues for the public. Your Committee also recognizes that the County of Maui recently lost its last daily newspaper and, thus, this measure may be most effective if tailored to that jurisdiction. Amendments to this measure are therefore necessary to address these issues.

Your Committee notes that the companion to this measure, S.B. No. 2929, S.D. 1 (2026), establishes a pilot project to authorize the electronic posting of public notices, tailored to the County of Maui. Your Committee finds that the language in S.B. No. 2929, S.D. 1 (2026), is preferable because the pilot project will provide the Legislature with information necessary to determine whether to implement the electronic posting option on a statewide basis.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting its contents and inserting the contents of S.B. No. 2929, S.D. 1 (2026), a measure that:

(A) Establishes the Electronic Posting Pilot Project for any county with a population between one hundred thousand and 175,000, to be administered by the county clerk of each participating county;

(B) Allows county agencies to satisfy county-wide public notice requirements by posting notices on official county websites, while retaining publication as an option; and

(C) Requires a report to the Legislature; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2525, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2388, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2388, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,

________________________________

ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair