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There were more than a dozen proposals before the Hawaii Legislature this year that had to do with open government — some good, some bad.

First, the good: Lawmakers have advanced a measure that is arguably among the most important: A permanent extension of Hawaii’s shield law.

would make permanent Hawaii’s , allowing reporters in Hawaii to maintain the confidentiality of their sources in most cases.

At the same time, one of the bad bills to survive is , which seeks to put restrictions on the First Amendment.

Some on the neighbor islands are frustrated about the actions of tourists who injure themselves while trespassing on private land. They initially proposed punishing publishers and holding them liable for tourists’ actions. The House even proposed making websites and Twitter users liable too.

The most recent version of HB 548 removes the liability clauses, but would require a publisher to cover a landowner’s legal costs and legal settlement in case of serious injury or death. It also makes it a “duty” for a publisher to warn vistors about dangers. The bill reads that publishers of visitor-guides “shall have a duty to warn the public of dangerous conditions typical of the area if the conditions pose a risk of serious injury or death, provided that a publisher shall have a duty to warn only if the publisher participates in authoring the website or publication.”

Still, aside from HB 548, open government advocates have at least a few reasons to be relieved.

There’s the shield law, which is advancing through the Senate. Last month, first amendment lawyer Jeff Portnoy recounted the reasons behind the law’s original June 30, 2011 sunset date.

“Some (Legislature) members had some concern that sky might fall in if the bill was passed, so at the last minute, there was a sunset provision added,” Portnoy told the House Judiciary Committee. “I think the last few years have shown there was no reason to be concerned. The sky has not fallen. There’s been no adverse or negative effect to anyone.”

Efforts to remove real property tax data from the public record also did not pass, though several measures meant to improve access to government records suffered the same fate, including one that would authorize the Office of Information Practices to fine any agency that does not comply with a decision.

Bills that failed to pass included three measures that would have made private the names and salaries of public workers, and two others that would have enabled the names of the entire police force to remain secret all died in committee. The bills were introduced after Civil Beat last year published the names and salaries of state and city employees. The Honolulu Police Department is the sole city agency that has not complied with the law and fulfilled our request.

Here are other surviving bills from our initial list of 16 to watch.

Limiting Free Speech

What it does: Hold authors and publishers of visitor guide websites and visitor guide publications liable to individuals who suffer injury or death as a result of being enticed to trespass.

Related bills: ,

Related articles: Beware Good Intentions , Tweet in Hawaii and Be Sued, Good News: It’s Safe to Tweet In Hawaii

Shield Law

What it does: The bill would repeal the existing shield law’s June 30, 2011 expiration date. The shield law protects journalists and other people who are collecting or disseminating news of substantial public interest from being compelled to disclose their sources or other unpublished information in most cases.

Campaign Finance

What it does: Relating to campaign spending. Changes report filing deadlines and requires filing of a supplemental report by candidate and noncandidate committees.

Related Bills: HB257, HB259