Bill Text: HI SB860 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 860 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Boards and Commissions; Financial Disclosures

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-22 - Referred to JDL. [SB860 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SB860-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	860
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to financial disclosures.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Existing law requires members of boards and commissions, among other persons, to file disclosures of financial interests with the state ethics commission. These financial disclosure statements help inform the public of whether a board or commission member may have a potential conflict of interest.

The legislature finds that in the interest of an informed public, a copy of each board or commission member's financial disclosure statement should be available to the other members and executive director of each respective board or commission to enable them to determine if any member may have a conflict of interest in voting on any particular matter.

The purpose of this Act is require the state ethics commission to provide every member and executive director of a board or commission a copy of the most recent financial disclosure statement of the current board or commission members.

SECTION 2. Section 84-17.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§84-17.5 Disclosure files; disposition[.]; copy available to board or commission members and executive director. (a) All financial disclosure statements filed by a legislator, employee, or delegate to a constitutional convention shall be maintained by the state ethics commission during the term of office of the legislator, employee, or delegate and for a period of six years thereafter. Upon the expiration of the six-year period, the financial disclosure statement and all copies thereof shall be destroyed.

(b) Upon the expiration of six years after an election for which a candidate for state elective office or a constitutional convention has filed a financial disclosure statement, the state ethics commission shall destroy the candidate's financial disclosure statement and all copies thereof.

(c) Financial disclosure statements provided for in section 84-17(d) shall cease to be public records once the six-year period in subsection (a) or (b) has run.

(d) Nothing herein shall bar the state ethics commission from retaining a financial disclosure statement or copy of a financial disclosure statement that has become part of a charge case or advisory opinion request, or is part of an ongoing investigation.

(e) The state ethics commission shall make available to the members and executive director of any state board or commission that is required to file a disclosure of financial interests under section 84-17, a copy of the current financial disclosure statement of current members of that board or commission; provided that copies of any financial disclosure statement made available pursuant to this subsection shall be held in the strictest confidence at all times.

Any person who releases financial disclosure statements or confidential information contained therein shall be subject to sections 84-31 and 84-39.

On the expiration date of a member's term of office, all copies of that member's financial disclosure statement that were made available to the other members or executive director of the board or commission pursuant to this subsection shall be destroyed by the members or executive director."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Boards and Commissions; Financial Disclosures

Description:

Requires the state ethics commission to provide a confidential copy of board and commission members' most recent financial disclosures to all other members of the filer's board or commission and executive director. Requires the recipients of the disclosures to maintain the confidentiality of the disclosures.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.