Bill Text: HI HB1897 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To The Sunshine Law.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-18 - Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Eli, Kapela excused (2). [HB1897 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB1897-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1897 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE SUNSHINE LAW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the people hold the ultimate decision-making power in our representative democracy. This may only be accomplished when governmental agencies, boards and commissions, and county councils allow for meaningful public input and embrace the public as a true collaborative partner in policymaking and governance. A robust sunshine law is necessary to opening up the governmental processes to public scrutiny and participation to achieve the ideals of a representative democracy.
The purpose of this Act is to strengthen the State's sunshine law to provide the public with more oversight of governmental agencies, boards and commissions, and county councils and to allow the public to give more meaningful, contemporaneous testimony at properly agendized meetings.
SECTION 2. Section 92-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§92-3
Open meetings[.]; recording requirements. (a) Every meeting of all boards shall be open to
the public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting unless otherwise
provided in the constitution or as closed pursuant to sections 92-4 and 92-5;
provided that the removal of any person or persons who wilfully disrupts a
meeting to prevent and compromise the conduct of the meeting shall not be
prohibited. The boards shall afford all
interested persons an opportunity to submit data, views, or arguments, in
writing, on any agenda item. The boards
shall also afford all interested persons an opportunity to present oral
testimony on any agenda item[.] and shall allow for oral testimony after
each agenda item. The boards may
provide for reasonable administration of oral testimony by rule.
(b) Every meeting
of all boards shall be livestreamed through the use of audiovisual or audio technology.
The recording of each meeting shall be archived
and made available to the public on the board's website or, if the board
does not have a website, on an appropriate
state or county website immediately after the meeting."
SECTION 3. Section 92-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
"(a) The board shall give written public notice of
any regular, special, emergency, or rescheduled meeting, or any executive
meeting when anticipated in advance. The
notice shall include an agenda that lists all of the items to be considered at
the forthcoming meeting[;] and shall identify each item on the agenda
as an item for action, in which board members shall take action upon the item, or
an item for discussion, in which board members shall only discuss the item;
the date, time, and place of the meeting; instructions on how to request an
auxiliary aid or service or an accommodation due to a disability, including a
response deadline, if one is provided, that is reasonable; and in the case of an
executive meeting, the purpose shall be stated.
If an item to be considered is the proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal
of administrative rules, an agenda meets the requirements for public notice
pursuant to this section if it contains a statement on the topic of the proposed
rules or a general description of the subjects involved, as described in
section 91-3(a)(1)(A), and a statement of when and where the proposed rules may
be viewed in person and on the Internet as provided in section 91-2.6. The means specified by this section shall be the
only means required for giving notice under this part notwithstanding any law to
the contrary.
(b)
No less than six calendar days prior to the meeting, the board shall
post the notice online on an electronic calendar [on] via a link
on the homepage of a website maintained by the State or the appropriate
county [and post a notice in the board's office] for public inspection. The notice shall also be posted at the site
of the meeting whenever feasible. The board
shall file a copy of the notice with the office of the lieutenant governor or
the appropriate county clerk's office and retain a copy of proof of filing the
notice, and the office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate clerk's
office shall timely post paper or electronic copies of all meeting notices in a
central location in a public building; provided that a failure to do so by the
board, the office of the lieutenant governor, or the appropriate county clerk's
office shall not require cancellation of the meeting. The copy of the notice to be provided to the
office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate county clerk's office may
be provided via electronic mail to an electronic mail address designated by the
office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate county clerk's office, as
applicable."
SECTION 4. Section 92-7.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§92-7.5[]] Board packet;
filing; public inspection; notice. [At
the time the board packet is distributed to the board members, the] The
board shall [also] make the board packet available for all board members
and available for public inspection in the board's office[.] and via
a link on the homepage of the board's website or, if the board does not have a
website, on an appropriate state or county website at least forty-eight hours prior
to the written testimony deadline.
The board shall provide notice to persons requesting notification of
meetings pursuant to section 92-7(e) that the board packet is available for inspection
in the board's office and via a link on the homepage of the board's website or
appropriate state or county website, and shall provide reasonably prompt
access to the board packet to any person upon request. The board [is] shall not be
required to mail board packets. As soon
as practicable, the board shall accommodate requests [for electronic access to
the board packet.] from persons with disabilities.
For purposes of this section, "board packet" means documents that are compiled by the board and distributed to board members before a meeting for use at that meeting, to the extent the documents are public under chapter 92F; provided that this section shall not require disclosure of executive session minutes, license applications, or other records for which the board cannot reasonably complete its redaction of nonpublic information in the time available before the public inspection required by this section."
SECTION 5. Section 92-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§92-9 Minutes.
(a) The board shall keep written
or recorded minutes of all meetings. [Unless
otherwise required by law, neither a full transcript nor a recording of the
meeting is required, but the] The minutes shall give a true reflection
of the matters discussed at the meeting and the views of the participants. Written minutes shall include[,] but
need not be limited to:
(1) The date, time, and place of the meeting;
(2) The members of the board recorded as either present or absent;
(3) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided; and a record, by individual member, of any votes taken; and
(4) Any other information that any member of the board requests be included or reflected in the minutes.
(b) The preliminary draft minutes shall be made available to the public for review and input by posting on the board's website or, if the board does not have a website, on an appropriate state or county website within thirty days or by the next meeting, whichever is earlier, except where such disclosure would be inconsistent with section 92-5; provided that minutes of executive meetings may be withheld so long as their publication would defeat the lawful purpose of the executive meeting, but no longer.
[(b)] (c) The finalized minutes shall be made
available to the public by posting on the board's website or, if the board does
not have a website, on an appropriate state or county website within [forty]
fourteen days after the next meeting except where such disclosure
would be inconsistent with section 92-5; provided that minutes of executive
meetings may be withheld so long as their publication would defeat the lawful
purpose of the executive meeting, but no longer. A written summary shall accompany any minutes
that are posted in a digital or analog recording format and shall include:
(1) The date, time, and place of the meeting;
(2) The members of the board recorded as either present or absent, and the times when individual members entered or left the meeting;
(3) A record, by individual member, of motions and votes made by the board; and
(4) A time stamp or other reference indicating when in the recording the board began discussion of each agenda item and when motions and votes were made by the board.
[(c)] (d) All or any part of a meeting of a board may
be recorded by any person in attendance by any means of reproduction, except
when a meeting is closed pursuant to section 92-4; provided the recording does
not actively interfere with the conduct of the meeting."
SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2112.
Report Title:
Sunshine Law; Livestream; Oral Testimony; Board Packets; Meeting Agenda; Minutes; Online Posting
Description:
Requires all boards to livestream meetings and archive the recordings online. Requires a board to identify each item on its meeting agenda as an item for action or an item for discussion and allow for oral testimony after each agenda item. Amends time frame requirements for the posting of board meeting minutes and board packets. Requires board meeting minutes and board packets to be posted online. Effective 7/1/2112. (HD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
