Bill Text: HI SCR223 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Legislative Drafting Manual; Working Group
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-04-12 - (H) Referred to JUD, LMG, FIN, referral sheet 67 [SCR223 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-SCR223-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
223 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
Proposed |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting all proponents of legislative measures, including governmental agencies and the legislature, to adhere to the hawaii legislative drafting manual when drafting or amending measures for purposes of consistency and style.
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 in order to conform the style of the act to the Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
WHEREAS, these style rules, which are now incorporated into the Drafting Manual, were 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; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that all proponents of legislative measures, including governmental agencies and the Legislature, are requested to adhere to the current Drafting Manual published by the Legislative Reference Bureau when proposing, drafting, or amending bills or resolutions, in order to assure that the measures considered are consistent in style, while allowing the Legislature to devote more time and resources to addressing the substantive legal and social issues within these measures; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Mayors and Council Chairs of the respective counties.
Legislative Drafting Manual; Measures Before the Legislature
