THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

250

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE COMMISSION ON SALARIES.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  Act 299, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, established the commission on salaries to review and recommend an appropriate salary for the governor, lieutenant governor, members of the legislature, justices and judges of all state courts, administrative director of the State or an equivalent position, and department heads or executive officers and the deputies or assistants to the department heads.  However, Act 299 did not provide for a public hearing by the commission on the salary recommendations.  The legislature finds that a public hearing on the recommendations is necessary to inform the public and to solicit public input, so that the legislature may be adequately apprised of the justification for the recommendations in order to determine whether to disapprove them.

     The purpose of this Act is to provide for a public hearing on recommendations made by the commission on salaries.

     SECTION 2.  Section 26-56, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

     "(d)  The commission shall convene in the month of November 2006, and every six years thereafter.  Not later than the fortieth legislative day of the regular session of 2007, and every six years thereafter, the commission shall submit a report of its findings and its salary recommendations to the legislature, through the governor.  Prior to submitting its report to the legislature, the commission shall conduct a public hearing on the island of Oahu to solicit public comment on the report; provided that:

     (1)  The public hearing shall be subject to the open meeting and public notice requirements of chapter 92; and

     (2)  The commission shall provide public notice not less than seventy-two hours prior to the hearing, in accordance with section 1-28.5, as well as the internet address where the report is accessible.

The commission may include a summary of comments received during the public hearing in its report to the legislature.  The commission may also include incremental increases that take effect prior to the convening of the next salary commission.

     The recommended salaries submitted by the commission shall become effective July 1 of the next fiscal year unless the legislature disapproves the recommended salaries submitted by the commission through the adoption of a concurrent resolution, which shall be approved by a simple majority of each house of the legislature, prior to adjournment sine die of the legislative session in which the recommended salaries are submitted; provided that any change in salary [which] that becomes effective shall not apply to the legislature to which the recommendation for the change in salary was submitted.

     The governor shall include the salary amounts recommended by the commission and approved by the legislature for employees of the executive branch in the executive budget.  If the salary amounts recommended by the commission are disapproved by the legislature, the commission shall reconvene in the November next following the legislative disapproval to review the legislature's reasons for disapproving its salary recommendation.  The commission may submit a report of its findings and submit a new salary recommendation to the legislature at the next regular session.  The commission's reconvening following a legislative disapproval shall not toll the six-year cycle."

     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:

Commission on Salaries; Public Hearing

 

Description:

Requires commission on salaries to conduct a public hearing on Oahu prior to submitting its recommendations to the legislature.

 

 

 

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