A recent bill concerning proxies for planned community associations passed the legislature and is awaiting action by Governor, Ige. If enacted, the bill will amend Hawaii Revised Statutes Sec. 421J-4 as follows:
1. Sec. 421J-4(c)3(C) will change the board majority option to enable certain proxies to be voted "on the basis of the preference of the majority of the directors present at the meeting;" rather than the majority of the board.
2. Sec. 421J-4(d) will cover a board that "intends to use" rather than "uses" association funds to distribute proxies and will require posting notice of that intention at least "twenty-one" days in advance of proxy distribution (rather than thirty days).
3. Sec. 421J-4(d)(2) will provide that owner statements shall "be limited to black text on white paper and shall indicate" the nominee's qualifications "or" reasons for wanting proxies. The twist is that if "the board's notice of intent to distribute proxies states that the statement shall not exceed one hundred words, but a longer statement shall be available on the Internet, then" the owner can submit both a written 100 word statement and a 100 kilobyte electronic file. A link to the electronic file shall be included in the proxy mailing in that event. If the board's notice of intent to distribute proxies omits the foregoing statement, then the 100 word statement is limited to one 8.5" x 11" single-sided page (and no electronic file).
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