STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2051

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2187

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 2187 entitled:

 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purposes of this measure are to:

 

     (1)  Authorize the Hawaii Tourism Authority to maintain the confidentiality of competitively sensitive information;

 

     (2)  Align performance goals with the Authority's strategic plan goals; and

 

     (3)  Preserve Hawaii Tourism Authority fiscal autonomy provisions of Act 58, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004, as amended, by deleting repeal and reenactment provisions scheduled to take effect on June 30, 2010.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of the Governor, Hawaii Tourism Authority, and Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association.

 

     Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure will allow the Hawaii Tourism Authority to withhold from public disclosure competitively sensitive information, including completed survey and questionnaire forms, coding sheets, and database records of the information, and keep confidential information gathered from visitors that is necessary for research.  The measure further clarifies the types of information the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Tourism Authority may consider in executive session, which is closed to the public.  Your Committee further finds that the Board recently developed a strategic plan that established goals and set targets for the organization, and the revisions in this measure will ensure that performance goals and targets are included as part of the plan.

 

     In discussion regarding submission of reports on contracts and agreements "periodically", and whether the word may need further clarification, the Hawaii Tourism Authority stated that currently the Chief Executive Officer submits a monthly report including notice of all contracts and agreements entered into by the Authority, and the amendment conforms to this practice.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2187, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2187, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism,

 

 

 

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair