An investigation by the State Ethics Commission is asking legislators to step forward and report if they or their staff accepted boxed sets of DVDs from a Hollywood-based film company that was lobbying for bills that would have boosted tax credits to movie productions in the state.
Relativity Media, a major Hollywood-based production company, reported distributing 25 sets of DVDs, each containing about 16 discs, during meetings with legislators and staff during February. However, only eleven legislators reported receipt of those gifts on their annual gift disclosure forms filed with the commission.
Relatively initially said the DVDs cost about $290 per set. However, in an amended lobbyist report, the company says the actual cost of each set was just $6.30, which was the cost of the box itself and a printed label. The company now says the cost of the DVDs was $0 because “contractually we are allotted DVD’s of each film we are credited on.”
The company has reported spending $218,220.50 lobbying for the measure between January 1 and April 30, 2011. See its amended lobbyist expenditure reports for January-February and March-April.
In a letter first emailed to all lawmakers on Friday, commission director Les Kondo said the commission is now “investigating to determine who else may have received the DVDs.”
The letter said the commission has not yet ruled whether accepting the DVDs violated state ethics laws, but the continuing investigation clearly reflects its concerns.
State law prohibits a legislator or employee from accepting a gift “under circumstances in which it can reasonably be inferred that the gift is intended to influence the performance of official duties or is intended as a reward for official action.”
Relativity Media held two meetings with legislators on February 1, according to Kondo’s letter. One meeting was attended by “approximately fifteen to twenty members of the House of Representatives an legislative staff, while the second was with four senators and staff.
The company also hosted an event on February 14 attended by about 100 people, including 30-50 legislators. The company reported spending $15,000 on the event, which was disclosed to the ethics commission last month.
Kondo’s letter asks legislators whether they attended any meeting with Relativity Media representatives and, if so, the date and time of the meeting, and the names of those present. It also asks whether any staff member attended such a meeting, along with their positions. Finally, it asks directly whether the legislator or any staff members had received the DVD sets.
“We are requesting information from all members of the legislature,” the letter said. A response was requested by Monday, October 17.
The increased tax credit proposal was the idea of Relativity CEO, Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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So people got some shwag. Much ado about nothing. Let Hollywood film here. Hawai’i needs the income and PR. Stop this manini crap, get out of the way, commission, and stop this politically correct boosheyit.
It has nothing to do with “political correctness.” So many people use that term and have no idea what it means.
This is about improper influence. If someone is giving you free stuff, you are more likely to be influenced by him/her. I’m fine with our lawmakers getting some free stuff, but they’d better report it, or it looks — and is — suspicious.
“They” should probe this: what does it cost to run the hawaii state ethics commission and what is the yearly salary take for director Les Kondo.
As I understand it, the results of the investigation will remain confidential.
This is something that we might want to change in new legislation.
Another example: I filed a complaint about Senator Hee’s false reports, as you discovered and posted. But the public will not learn the outcome unless Sen. Hee decides to make it public.
Investigating potential ethics violations is important and valuable, but the missing piece of transparency is that the results are kept secret.
I don’t think the production cost is valid measure of the gift if what the legislators got were dvd copies of current movies.
The City Ethics Advisory Opinion 2003-3, for example, suggests that the estimate of the gift value should be the fair market value for the goods or services provided. (In that particular case, it was a gift of a dinner with a fair market value of $25.)
I am pretty sure a boxed set of 16 movie DVDs goes for a lot more than $6.30.