If you’re tracking power and influence, one obvious measure is an organization’s presence at the State Capitol as it tries to shape legislation in its own interest. Eleven organizations that are represented by registered lobbyists in Hawaii consistently ranked among the top 25 in lobbying-related expenditures, according to reports filed with the State Ethics Commission. [...]
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Altria, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies formerly known as the Philip Morris Companies, spent far more than any other interest group lobbying state lawmakers between 2006 and 2012, according to lobbyist reports filed with the State Ethics Commission. Altria Client Services, the subsidiary handling lobbying, litigation, and other aspects of the tobacco company’s [...]
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[Revised 9:45 a.m.] Remember the flap during the recent legislative session over SB893? That’s the bill that would have retroactively exempted attorney/lobbyist Marvin Dang from conflict of interest provisions of the state ethics law after he lobbied on bills proposed by a mortgage foreclosure task force he had served on. There was a big ruckus [...]
Today’s slide of Hawaii contribution data includes those contributions made by Mitsunaga & Associates and its officers, employees, and family members during 2011 and 2012. The total amount given to candidates was $193,200, which is in the same ball park as the $172,800 contributed by lobbyists John Radcliffe and “Red” Morris (see “Following the money–Where [...]
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My column in Civil Beat this week returns to the data on politics and money, tracing top campaign contributors during the 2012 election cycle. It turns out that George “Red” Morris and John Radcliffe, principals in the lobbying firm, Capitol Consultants of Hawaii, were far and away the highest rolling individual contributors. Neal Milner, emeritus [...]
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If money talks in politics, then the lobbyist team of John Radcliffe and George “Red” Morris can certainly be heard loud and clear in the halls of the State Capitol. I’ve just started looking at patterns of campaign contributions by lobbyists, and the two principals in Capitol Consultants of Hawaii, LLP stand out from the [...]
A recent follow-up post about the Sand Island Business Association prompted a request from a reader: “Can you do [a profile] on the Honolulu Planning Commission? We want to know how did this people get on this powerful board.” I’m not sure I can fully deliver on this, but I can at least make a [...]
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The State Ethics Commission’s application of key ethics provisions to members of temporary state task forces is again causing headaches. Civil Beat’s Nathan Eagle described the latest go-around over SB893, which was notable for pitting testimony by former commission director Dan Mollway (who supported the bill) against the commission’s current director, Les Kondo, who strongly [...]
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