STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1315-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2245

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2245 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS FOR STATE EMPLOYEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit new state employees from taking official action on matters they previously worked on during private sector employment and to extend existing post‑employment lobbying restrictions to include permanent employees of the Offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Ethics Commission and League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that public confidence in government depends on ensuring that state employees act solely in the public interest and not in favor of former private employers. The lack of pre‑employment conflict of interest restrictions creates situations where newly hired employees could be perceived as biased when taking action on matters they handled in the private sector, which erodes public trust in government decision‑making. Your Committee believes that establishing a two‑year restriction on taking official action involving prior private sector work, combined with strengthened post‑employment lobbying limitations for certain permanent government employees, will help safeguard the integrity of state decision‑making and reinforce public confidence.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Expanding the exemptions to include employees who take official action on a matter that was expressly identified in the employee's official job description at the time of hire;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2245, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2245, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

JACKSON D. SAYAMA, Chair