Bill Text: HI SCR66 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 66 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Urging State Boards To Facilitate Remote Participation In Board Meetings And Provide Board Packets In Advance Of Board Meetings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-11 - Referred to JDC. [SCR66 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SCR66-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	66
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Urging State boards to facilitate REMOTE participation in board meetings and provide board packets in advance of board meetings.

WHEREAS, there are over one hundred seventy state boards, councils, authorities, committees, and commissions, hereinafter collectively referred to as "boards", that are established by the Constitution of Hawaii, state statutes, and executive orders; and

WHEREAS, these boards exist to give citizens a voice in government and provide an opportunity for a cross-section of the State's residents to offer vital input to influence decisions that shape the quality of life for the residents of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, given the important role of these boards, it is critical to promote public access and the ability to participate in their meetings; and

WHEREAS, chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires every meeting of all government boards to be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law; and

WHEREAS, government boards successfully implemented interactive conference technology that allowed board members and the public to participate in board meetings remotely during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, the expanded public access and participation made possible through interactive conference technology was of great utility and benefit for all persons, especially for individuals with disabilities and residents of rural areas and neighbor islands; and

WHEREAS, given the expanded access and participation afforded by remote participation in board meetings, technologies that facilitate remote participation should be made a permanent component of board meetings; and

WHEREAS, chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, also requires boards to provide advance notice of board meetings to persons who request such notice and make "board packets"--documents that are compiled by the board and distributed to board members before a meeting for use at that meeting--available for public inspection; and

WHEREAS, chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, does not, however, presently require board packets to be provided to interested persons in advance of board meetings; and

WHEREAS, the provision of board packets to interested persons in advance of board meetings will promote more informed and meaningful public participation in board meetings; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the heads of the departments and agencies that have administrative control over or supervise boards are urged to provide interactive conferencing technology to facilitate remote participation in board meetings; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the heads of the departments and agencies that have administrative control over or supervise boards are urged to provide, or cause to be provided, board packets to persons requesting the board packets at least twenty-four hours prior to the board meeting to which the board packet pertains; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and heads of each executive department of the State.