House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs (JHW) - chair: Hanabusa, vice chair: Hee

Wednesday, February 15, 2006, 9:00 a.m. Conference Room 229

Testifier: Jean Aoki

Click here to view SB1062

The League of Women Voters of Hawaii strongly supports the provisions of SB 1062. While we would not insist that you should follow all of the provisions of Chapter 92’s open meeting requirement at present because of the time constraints inherent in a body which needs to get its work done in a prescribed amount of time and the number of bills which spells work increasing, it would seem, there are some provisions of chapter 92 you could follow to bring more transparency to the process of law-making. While not addressed by this bill., I would suggest a three-day recess between the cut-off date for for bill introduction and the beginning of hearings or schedule the cut-off-date about three days earlier so that we’re not scrambling to gather the bills, file them away for easy access, and at the same time preparing testimony. We like the idea of having a public hearing on the proposed official rules and policies of each house. Unless your rules and policies are completely unreasonable and indefensible, there may be some criticism on some, but I believe both houses have more to gain from displaying the willingness to explain the need for certain rules and procedures and maybe make some changes to accommodate the public’s needs. We urge the passage of SB 1062. Thank you for this opportunity to be heard on SB 1062.