Do you know of a House or Senate action that was conducted without Sunshine? Help build the record. Send your leak to:
Disappeared bill SB1061
Example: House Judiciary Committee
The bill SB1061 on the Capitol website "Prohibits a lobbyist who lobbies the legislature, principal of a lobbyist, client or agent of lobbyist, and a political action committee on which the lobbyist sits from making a contribution to a member of the legislature, the governor, and lieutenant governor while the legislature is in session."
According to the status page, it was heard on Tuesday, 03-21-06 at 2:00 pm in House conference room 325 and the committee recommended that the measure be deferred. This never happened. This bill, which had popular support and was passed unanimously by the Senate, was never heard.
Instead, the hearing notice, sent out at the last minute on Friday, referred to the following text:
Since "Room 302" was closed over the weekend, the public had no access to this "proposed HD1", which is, in fact, not an amendment to the original bill at all. No copy would be available until Monday morning, the day before the hearing. Note that House rules require 48 hours notice before a hearing. The text was not available in that time frame. The public was also required to drive in to the Capitol in order to obtain a copy. Not only do many people live far away or on a Neighbor Island, most cannot take off from work.
This action violates trust in the integrity of government because the record falsely indicates that SB1061 was heard, but it was never heard. This action violates sunshine because the text of the measure heard by committee members was not available to the majority of the public. This action violates process because the proposed text was not introduced at the beginning of the session and it was not heard or voted on previously, nor does it relate to the original bill in any way.
posted by Larry @ 10:40 PM
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