I made an interesting discovery yesterday.

Candidates running for the 1st District Congressional seat are required by federal law to file personal financial disclosures, just like candidates who file for state and county offices.

Congressional financial disclosures are public documents.

But they’re filed in Washington, D.C.

As far as I can tell, there’s no requirement to file them in a public place here in Hawaii, where the voters are. Years ago, candidates used to file courtesy copies with the State Ethics Commission, where disclosures of local candidates are on file. But a commission staffer told me yesterday that they no longer accept federal filings.

And the nonprofit groups that gather congressional disclosures and make them available online don’t seem to include candidates.

So if this is required by federal law, why is it so hard for the public to get a look?

Oh, wait. They make the laws, so maybe this is intentional.

In any case, please don’t be shy about correcting me if I just failed to look in the right places.