Bill Text: HI SR55 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Committing To Provide Greater Public Access To The Legislative Process By Adopting Rules To Allow For Virtual Testimony, Hearing Recordings, And Internet Broadcasts Of Hearings Beyond Periods Of Catastrophic Events.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-30 - The committee on JDC deferred the measure. [SR55 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR55-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	55
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

COMMITTING TO PROVIDE GREATER PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS BY adoptING rules TO allow for virtual testimony, hearing recordings, and internet broadcastS of hearings beyond periods of catastrophic events.

 

 

     WHEREAS, public access to the Legislature and the legislative process allows for citizens of Hawaii to actively engage with decisions impacting everyday life; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature has committed to providing greater public access for citizens interested in the legislative process, beginning with Act 331, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989, to improve public access to legislative information; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's unique geography as an archipelago of islands poses significant challenges for residents from the counties of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii to actively participate due to costly, time-consuming travel to attend hearings, and to provide in-person, oral testimony; and

 

     WHEREAS, the lack of remote hearing and testimony procedures impacts approximately four hundred thousand residents in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created great challenges to all individuals interested in participating in the legislative process; and

 

     WHEREAS, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical access to the Capitol building, hearings, and live testimony has been restricted due to social distancing guidelines; and

 

     WHEREAS, during the emergency stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions, legislators, staff, and members of the public could not attend public meetings in person; and

 

     WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the implementation of emergency measures suspending certain requirements of the State's sunshine law in order to allow boards and commissions to continue meeting and conducting necessary business while protecting participants' health and safety and expanding public access to meetings throughout the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, remote meetings can connect people in different physical locations through the use of interactive conference technology and thus enabled enhanced legislative and public participation; and

 

     WHEREAS, remote meetings could be safely held and allow more people from different islands or parts of islands to effectively participate, often during times when they would not otherwise be physically able or authorized to leave their work, homes, or schools to participate in an in-person meeting; and

 

     WHEREAS, during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote meetings helped to prevent the spread of disease, and even when there is not an ongoing pandemic, remote meetings can be a way to protect the health and safety of participants; and

 

     WHEREAS, remote meetings allowed the elderly and individuals who have disabilities or medical conditions that would place them at greater risks during travel or attendance at in-person public meetings to participate in the legislative process; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2021, each house of the Legislature adopted remote hearings and testimony rules that allowed members of the public to continue participation through virtual conferencing platforms; and

 

     WHEREAS, the successful utilization of virtual attendance and remote testimony procedures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic supports the continuation of pandemic-era rules to allow for greater public access to the legislative process; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that each house of the Legislature is committed to providing greater public access to the legislative process for citizens by adopting rules allowing virtual testimony, recorded hearings, and hearings broadcasted via the Internet, consistent with those that were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, be continued as a regular practice.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Interactive Conference Technology; Remote Meetings; Accessibility; Sunshine Law