STAND. COM. REP. NO.790

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 427

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Science, Arts, and Technology and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 427 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GOVERNMENT RECORDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require agencies to provide electronic copies of government records upon payment of a reasonable fee and to authorize agencies to provide remote access to government records.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Information Practices, Hawaii Information Service, and Life of the Land.

Your Committees find that government agencies should be providing access to electronic records to the same extent as paper records, with the understanding that the fees for providing such access may vary depending upon the type of records and specific electronic format requested. Your Committees further find that in order to promote uniform application of this measure, the Office of Information Practices should be named as the administrative agency to oversee implementation of these provisions.

 

Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the repeal of all references to other forms of government records, including geographic information systems;

(2) Inserting a limit on charges of 25 cents per page for paper copies of documents up to 8.5 by 14 inches;

(3) Clarifying that an agency may charge for labor costs if new programming and information technology services are required for data compilation or extraction in order to produce an electronic copy of a government record;

(4) Requiring that any agency that maintains government records in an electronic format shall make such government records available in an electronic format upon request by any person, unless otherwise prohibited by law;

(5) Clarifying that a government agency may provide read only access to government records by remote electronic means; and

(6) Adding a provision that the director of the office of information practices shall be responsible for administering the provisions of this section.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Science, Arts, and Technology and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 427, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 427, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Science, Arts, and Technology and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

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COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair

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DAVID Y. IGE, Chair