Bills that would hold police officers more accountable for their actions are among a limited number of measures that the state Legislature will take up when it reconvenes June 22 for what’s expected to be a three-week period.

House Speaker Scott Saiki said Tuesday that there is interest among lawmakers to take up police discipline legislation, and most specifically House Bill 285, which would require the state’s four county police departments to identify to the Legislature in an annual report the names of officers suspended or discharged.

The law already requires the names of officers who are fired to be disclosed, but not of those who have resigned.

“We know there’ll be a lot of questions about police discipline legislation,” Saiki said during a news conference with Senate President Ron Kouchi about the reconvening of the session.

The measure, introduced in 2019, failed to go to a final vote after conferees from the House and Senate could not agree on an effective date.

“We’re hopeful that this will be worked out and the bill will be able to come to the full floor,” Kouchi said.

But House Judiciary Chairman Chris Lee told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that there’s a public call for police reform triggered by the recent death of George Floyd as he was being restrained with the knee of a Minneapolis police officer against his neck. All four officers involved were fired. One officer additionally was charged with second-degree murder; the three others were charged with aiding and abetting.

“I think there’s definitely an acute public focus on these issues,” Lee said. “We know we’re not immune in Hawaii. … There’ve been a lot of different local cases over the years that show that we have room to improve here, too.”

Leaders with the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the union that represents about 2,000 law enforcement officers in the state, did not return a call left at their office. SHOPO has historically opposed the measure requiring the disclosure of officers disciplined or fired, citing the privacy and safety concerns of its members.

Open-government advocacy groups including Common Cause Hawaii, the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest and the Society of Professional Journalists last year all supported its passage. So too did the state Office of Information Practices, which testified that all other state and county government employees’ names must be made public in cases where misconduct results in suspension or termination.

Lee said he and colleagues have discussed in recent days a suite of other potential police reform measures. Those include enacting a state law requiring police officers to intervene or report when another law enforcement officer is breaking the law, and strengthening the authority of the recently created Law Enforcement Standards Board.

On Monday, Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said an internal committee is doing a broad review of HPD’s use-of-force policies in light of Floyd’s death and that she’s temporarily suspended the use of a submission move known as vascular neck restraint, which the chief said is not a chokehold.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads said he and other Senators support House Bill 285. “We just have to work out the details,” he said.

The public will be able to submit written testimony and to watch meetings and hearings via livestream.