Posted on: Sunday, March 13, 2005
Legislature exempt from Sunshine Law
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Advertiser Staff
One of the more glaring features of Hawai'i's open-meetings law exempts the state Legislature from its provisions.
When the law passed in 1975, open-government advocates criticized lawmakers for carving themselves out of the open-meetings requirements. Instead, the Legislature operates by its own rules, deciding when to meet before the public and when not to.
Such exemptions are not unique; the Congress also exempts itself from open-government provisions such as the Freedom of Information Act. But that practice, too, has come under fire over the years.
The issue arose anew at the Legislature in 2003, when lawmakers considered a bill to extend a Sunshine Law exemption to the county councils. The bill's supporters said the open-meetings law was unduly burdensome, prohibiting more than two council members from discussing procedural matters during a council meeting recess, for example.
The proposal died in the wake of public opposition to the idea.
