Week 38: The Legislature, Ethics and Transparency

Katherine Poythress/Civil Beat

There was plenty of pomp at the Capitol this week. The cameras were all over the dancing and music on opening day.

What they didn't capture was what lawmakers don't seem to want to talk about.

That fell to our Robert Brown, who examined the state's ethics laws and how they compared with those in legislatures in other states.

Robert revealed that Hawaii law is conveniently written to make it impossible for citizens to know about lawmakers' current possible conflicts of interest as they make decisions about matters of public policy. Read his article.

The most up-to-date income information for Hawaii lawmakers is as much as two years old. In some other states, lawmakers are required to file current data during the legislative session.

Robert's other story on ethics showed that even when Hawaii legislators do file disclosures, they don't have to reveal where their income actually comes from. Read the article.

New Senate President Shan Tsutsui says that's a problem he wants to fix. We'll keep an eye on these and other ethics issues as the session goes on.

Next week look for a related article by Robert on how lobbying expenses are reported and how difficult it is for the public to know how the money is being spent.

It's commonplace for government officials to talk about their commitment to transparency. But Robert's examination this week of state ethics laws shows why the public has reason to be skeptical of the depth of that commitment. As did the decision by the House clerk not to broadcast the House session where leadership was decided on opening day.

In addition to providing incisive reporting on the session, our commitment at Civil Beat is to provide a forum where the public and lawmakers can discuss the issues facing the state. We shared a range of opinions in the first week, with more to come next week.

In case you missed them:

• Fragile Recovery Requires Proven Leadership
• It’s Really About Values
• Will Hawaii Learn the Great Recession?
• Taking Care of Our Elders
• Redesigning Democracy in Hawaii
• Defending Civil Rights that Affect Our Everyday Lives
• Civil Unions, Civil Rights
• Equal Opportunity and Prosperity Focus of FACE Equity Summit
• We Need to Sacrifice for the Collective Good
• Education for Citizenship, Education for Opportunity
• How to Keep America Moving
• Pursuing Health Equity in Hawaii
• Opportunities and Challenges of Population Change
• Hawaii Needs to Do More to Help Families Facing Foreclosure
• Housing Status Quo Needs to Change

Next week we'll have more on housing and energy.

DISCUSSION: Share your thoughts on this week's coverage in our week in review discussion.

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