GOVERNOR’S EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION

News Release from Office of Information Practices, Nov 29, 2021

Governor David Ige today issued another Emergency Proclamation Related to COVID-19, which imposes a limited suspension of the Sunshine Law and provides guidelines for the conduct of board meetings.  Essentially, Exhibit C of the latest Proclamation suspends the Sunshine Law to enable boards to conduct meetings without any members of the boards or the public physically present in the same location. 

The Proclamation, which expires on December 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., also encourages boards to follow as “guidelines” nearly all of the requirements for remote and multi-site meetings contained in Act 220, SLH 2021, which go into effect as law on January 1, 2022.  The Proclamation specifically requires the board’s notice to now contain electronic and postal contact information for submission of testimony before the meeting.

OIP has already posted on its Training page updated Sunshine Law training materials, which incorporate Act 220’s requirements.  Boards that are following the new requirements should have a much easier time adjusting to the new law on January 1.  For any questions, please call OIP’s Attorney of the Day at (808) 586-1400, or preferably email oip@hawaii.gov.