STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2231

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2824

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 2824 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BRIBERY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the offense of failure to report bribery as a misdemeanor.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Indivisible Hawaiʻi‑Kaʻu Voices, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, Indiisible Hawaiʻi, and fifty-four individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committees find that bribery and other forms of corruption undermine trust in public institutions. While acts of corruption already incur penalties under state law, further action is needed to ensure transparency and accountability. By imposing penalties on public servants for failing to report bribery, this measure prevents instances of bribery from going unaddressed.

Your Committees further find that members of other public‑serving professions, such as teachers, are already required to report certain crimes as a matter of professional ethics or law. This measure extends those obligations to public servants in cases of bribery.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2824, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2824, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Technology,

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair

________________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair