STAND. COM. REP. NO.  350-14

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1288

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1288 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ORDER OF SUCCESSION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to clarify the order of succession that determines who succeeds the Lieutenant Governor upon a vacancy in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor caused by his or her succession to the Office of the Governor, failure to qualify, removal from office, death, resignation, or otherwise.  Specifically, this measure changes the list of and qualifications for successors to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor by:

 

     (1)  Maintaining succession to, first, the Senate President followed by the House Speaker, provided that the individual meets the new qualification of being of the same political party as the Governor;

 

     (2)  Deleting from the list of successors, should the Senate President and House Speaker not succeed, the Attorney General, Director of Finance, Comptroller, Director of Taxation, and Director of Human Resources Development; and

 

     (3)  Designating as the successor, should the Senate President and House Speaker not succeed, an individual appointed by the Governor who is a member of the same political party as the Governor and constitutionally qualified to serve.

 

     An individual provided testimony in opposition to this measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Maintaining the list of officers who shall assume the powers and duties of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor when the Lieutenant Governor is temporarily absent from the State or temporarily disabled by inserting language specifying the Attorney General, Director of Finance, Comptroller, Director of Taxation, and Director of Human Resources Development, in that order; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1288, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1288, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair