STAND. COM. REP. NO. 536

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 218

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 218 entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify the order of succession to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor when that office becomes vacant by:

 

     (1)  Requiring that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the order of succession be in the same political party as the Governor;

 

     (2)  Deleting the Attorney General, Director of Finance, Comptroller, Director of Taxation, and Director of Human Resources Development from the order of succession; and

 

     (3)  Adding to the order of succession after the Speaker of the House of Representatives a person appointed by the Governor who is a member of the same political party as the Governor and qualified to hold that office pursuant to the Hawaii State Constitution.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

 

     Your Committee finds that the requirement that the successor to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor be of the same political party as the Governor allows for an expeditious transition of the powers and duties to the successor.  This measure will provide for a more efficient execution of government services as well as ensure that policies and initiatives are not compromised upon the change in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Reinstating the Director of Finance in the order of succession to the Office of Lieutenant Governor;

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (3)  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 Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 218, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 218, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair