STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2428

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2248

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 Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2248 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Expand the scope of persons who are required to file financial disclosures to include certain gubernatorial nominees subject to Senate confirmation; and

(2) Modernize existing statutory financial disclosure requirements by aligning legislative disclosures with information already provided in lobbyist expenditure statements.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission, Green Party of Hawaiʻi, and twenty individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that under existing law many appointed officials are not required to file financial disclosures until after their appointment, potentially delaying disclosure until after confirmation proceedings have concluded. Consequently, this timing limits the public's ability to review and provide input on conflicts of interest. Requiring nominees to submit disclosures within a short time after nomination or before the first confirmation hearing will enable meaningful public review and informed legislative consideration. This measure will advance consistency, clarity, and enforceability in the State's financial disclosure framework.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date from upon its approval to January 1, 2027; 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 Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2248, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2248, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair