Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor (JDL) - chair: Clayton Hee, vice chair: Maile S.L. Shimabukuro

Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 10:15 a.m.. Conference Room 016

Testifier: Beppie J. Shapiro, President, LWV of Hawaii

Click here to view SB3030

Chair Hee, Vice-Chair Shimabukuro, Members of the Committee: I am testifying for the League of Women Voters of Hawaii. Thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of our members throughout Hawaii. This bill would allow the salary of the Auditor to be decreased during his or her term in office, when salaries of comparable officials are being reduced by the legislature. The purpose of this change is to create a uniform policy allowing salary decreases for the heads of legislative service agencies. There is an obvious and critically important reason why the Auditor’s salary should not be changed during his or her term of office by legislative action: the Auditor’s work requires evaluations and appraisals which, to be of any value to the Legislature and the public, must be, and be perceived as, entirely objective and not influenced by hope or fear of personal gain or loss Therefore as this bill provides, such diminishment should only happen at the same time and in the same proportion as salaries of similar positions are diminished. The League supports this bill. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.