Bill Text: HI SR114 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Legislative Drafting Manual; Working Group

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-04-09 - (S) Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). [SR114 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SR114-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	114
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the legislative reference bureau to convene a working group to revise and update the hawaii legislative drafting manual.

 

 

     WHEREAS, in 2009, there were 1,843 bills introduced in the House of Representatives and 1,680 bills introduced in the Senate.  Of these bills, two hundred fifty-one were passed and submitted to the Governor; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2009, nine hundred forty-eight resolutions were introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and, of these, two hundred eighty-eight were adopted; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature considers this enormous volume of bills and resolutions within a relatively short time period--approximately four months during a regular legislative session--and the resources to do so are limited.  Thus, the Legislature must prioritize and focus on substantive issues that benefit the people of Hawai‘i, such as revitalizing the economy or addressing furloughs in Hawaii public schools, rather than expending these limited resources on technical disagreements over differences in drafting styles of the measures, such as whether the word "State" should be capitalized or whether "that" or "which" is appropriate in a specific sentence; and

 

     WHEREAS, when members of the Legislature are expending their time and resources on these differences in drafting styles within one high-priority measure, they may not have sufficient time to address other measures that could benefit the quality of life for Hawai‘i's people; and

 

     WHEREAS, notwithstanding the need of the Legislature to focus its attention on substantive concerns, the Legislature is cognizant of the necessity of making each measure that is passed or adopted consistent with and integrated into the existing Hawaii Revised Statutes, and, accordingly, members of the Legislature cannot simply ignore these style differences; and

 

     WHEREAS, to alleviate the Legislature from misspending its scarce resources, all proponents of measures and, specifically, governmental agencies, including the Legislature, should attempt to strive for consistency and integration while drafting or amending the measures throughout the legislative process; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislative Reference Bureau publishes the "Hawaii Legislative Drafting Manual" (Drafting Manual), which is currently in its ninth edition, for the very purpose of conformity of drafting styles to effectuate consistency and integration with the Hawaii Revised Statutes and to provide guidance to those who are drafting or amending measures; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Director of which is the Revisor of Statutes pursuant to section 23G-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is tasked with making changes to any act to conform the style of the act to the Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the style rules were incorporated into the Drafting Manual, which was adopted by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1967, and, thus, the Drafting Manual published by the Legislative Reference Bureau is authoritative and, absent an amended edition of the Drafting Manual, should be adhered to by all proponents of legislative measures, including governmental agencies and the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, the current edition of the Drafting Manual has not been substantively updated since January 1996, does not incorporate recent changes to style rules, and does not reflect current drafting practices of legislative drafting agencies or the style preferred by the Legislative Reference Bureau, as the Revisor of Statutes; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to convene a working group, with the participation of the legislative drafting agencies, to consider changes to the current Drafting Manual, and to incorporate desired changes into a revised and updated draft of the Drafting Manual; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to invite representatives from the following legislative drafting agencies to participate in the working group and to work together on the updated Drafting Manual:

 

     (1)  The Senate Majority Research Office;

 

     (2)  The Senate Minority Research Office;

 

     (3)  The House Majority Staff Office; and

 

     (4)  The House Minority Research Office; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report to the Legislature, no later than November 30, 2010, together with its draft of the updated Drafting Manual; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Director of the Senate Majority Research Office, the Director of the Senate Minority Research Office, the Director of the House Majority Staff Office, and the Director of the House Minority Research Office.

Report Title: 

Legislative Drafting Manual; Working Group