Ige Lifts Suspension Of Hawaii’s Open Government Laws… A new law also allows boards and commissions to meet remotely with members of the public even after emergency measures cease.
Gov. David Ige’s latest emergency proclamation takes a major step toward reopening the doors to government transparency, more than 16 months after the governor used his emergency powers to suspend open government laws at the start of the pandemic.
The new proclamation issued Thursday reinstates the Uniform Information Practices Act, also called Chapter 92F, which allows public access to a wide range of government records that aren’t typically touted by officials. Access to those records was limited in 2020 when Ige took the extraordinary step to suspend the records law.
The governor also implemented a new law that allows boards and commissions to continue meeting remotely even after emergency measures cease. That law, Act 220, had support from open government advocates and was pushed forward by the state Office of Information Practices.
