Category Archives: Legislature

Several more useful links

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Here are a couple of additional online sources that you might find useful.

iClips is a free daily news summary from local and national sources prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau. You can subscribe and you’ll receive the daily updates via email.

The LRB Library produces a clipping of online news for members of the Legislative community. iClips provides links to articles of interest selected from local and national online news. Updated daily Monday – Friday by 10am.

Since the Hawaii news we get is usually heavily Oahu-centric, iClips provides an easy way to keep up with developments in the other counties, as it draws on neighbor island newspapers, including The Garden Island (Kauai), Maui News, Hawaii Tribune-Herald (East Hawaii) and West Hawaii Today (Kona side), along with Civil Beat, Hawaii Public Radio, and broadcast news.

With its mid-morning schedule, it won’t be ready to peruse with your morning coffee. But it’s a convenient way to get a sweep of daily news from across the state.

After looking through the day’s news on iClips, I wandered over to the LRB Library Catalog. I was just mildly interested at first, but then started noticing things. There, front and center, are online copies of the House and Senate Journals going back to 1975. These makes it possible to search legislative histories of laws going back as far as that. Formerly you had to find a library which had open shelves for browsing through the old bound volumes. Sometimes the LRB library was the only easily accessible game in town. Now it can be done from the safety of your own computer.

Down at the bottom of the LRB list are things related to Covid-19. I’ve just started to browse through some of those. It’s good to know just what is available.

The link to LLMC Digital Open Access led to another batch of research materials.

LLMC is a non-profit cooperative of libraries dedicated to the twin goals of, preserving legal titles and government documents, while making copies inexpensively available digitally through its on-line service LLMC-Digital. LLMC provides libraries with a reliable and budget-friendly source of digital replacement when their older, physically deteriorating books became too burdensome to store given diminished use. While aiding libraries in their preservation and space recovery programs, it also provides an economical way to complete retrospective collections.

If you’re at all interested in the history of Hawaii, just click to open the list of Hawaii documents, and I’m sure you’ll find enough to keep you busy for a while. I know that I did.

Anyway, I love this kind of collection of unusual links. You just never known when some of this will become relevant to something you’re concerned about.

Dig in, and share surprises that you might find.

We’re learning lots of new details about the Hu Honua proposal

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I have to admit that I had not paid a lot of serious attention over the several years the Hu Honua Biofuels proposal for a wood-burning power plant on the Hamakua Coast was grinding through the legalistic and heavily regulated process before the Public Utilities Commission.

It was really only when I started investigating rumors of undue political pressure being put on the PUC and other state agencies by two state senators that I started digging into the case more seriously.

There’s obviously a lot going on that has not been seen by the public. If you’re interested, you should be tracking Henry Curtis’ Ililani Media, which is very sharply focused, as well as checking back here from time to time (better yet, sign up to get iLind.net delivered via email every time a new post appears).

It’s clear that insiders knew of the central role of Jennifer M. “Jenny” Johnson in financing Hu Honua Bioenergy, but that hasn’t really been known generally. Johnson is President and CEO of Franklin Resources Inc., the parent company of the Franklin Templeton funds. It’s a huge global publicly-traded firm controlled by the Johnson family. Jennifer Johnson’s brother, Greg, holds the positions of Executive Chairman and Chairman. Their father, billionaire Charles Johnson, is a former CEO of the company that was started as a mutual fund by his father. All in the family, I guess.

So that controversial little former plantation power plant in Pepeekeo ties right into the elites of the global financial world. Another investor was the controversial Irish businessman, Andy Ruhan (for example, see, “The ‘ruined’ Irish millionaire, his wife, a bizarre murder plot, and the battle for his secret fortune,” The Independent, Nov. 12, 2017). Ruhan apparently invested through a company registered on the Isle of Man, adding to the global spread of the Hu Honua story. Another figure who shows up is Peter Kleis, who was a manager of Grandis Ventures I, which placed at least $31 million into Hu Honua Bioenergy in 2012, and controlled the company for a couple of years until its shares were bought out by Johnson. Kleis died in a single-car crash in January 2015.

A lot of this information comes from documents filed in a lawsuit in California in which Johnson is being sued by a former personal friend and business associate in Hu Honua.

By the way, if you’re like me, you might be wondering about the two names being used to refer to the company, Hu Honua Bioenergy (the older name) and Honua Ola Bioenergy (the more recent one). Hu Honua announcted 2-1/2 years ago that it was adopting the new “Honua Ola” name, perhaps to try to jettison its history of financial woes, perhaps to reflect Johnson’s consolidation of control over the company. The name change came at about the same time Johnson ousted Harold Robinson from the company he had managed on her behalf for 5 years.

Although public records show several properties have been transferred from Hu Honua to Honua Ola, even the most recent legal filings, including the recent appeal to the Hawaii Supreme Court, have been made in the name of Hu Honua. So the name change has only been partially implemented, it seems.

Stay tuned. I’m sure there’s a lot more to come.

Gov. Ige threatens veto of bill limiting “revolving door” between government and lobbyists

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Governor Ige has announced his intention to veto a bill that, if it becomes law, would strengthen ethics in government by imposing a new waiting period on the revolving door between public service and special interest lobbying.

The bill “seeks to promote integrity in government by strengthening the wall of separation between lobbyists and high-ranking government officials.”

HB2124 SD2, “Relating to the Code of Ethics,” is strongly supported by the State Ethics Commission.

The commission testified repeatedly in favor of passage, and described what the bill would do.

Currently, under Hawaii’s post-employment law, Hawai’i Revised Statutes (“HRS?) § 84-18, former government officials are generally prohibited from representing others, for pay, before their own agencies for twelve months after leaving office. However, those same former government officials are generally not subject to any cooling-off period before they may be paid to represent private clients before other state agencies. For example, a department director who appears regularly before the Legislature can leave government service and immediately begin lobbying the Legislature for pay; similarly, a legislator can immediately leave office and begin lobbying executive-branch agencies regarding proposed administrative rules.

This measure would create a twelve-month cooling-off period for certain high-ranking government officials (and permanent employees of the Legislature, other than those employed in clerical positions), before those former employees would lobby the Legislature for pay.

The list of those who would be impacted by the bill is included at the bottom of this post.

Although HB2124 was not part of the commission’s package of bills submitted during the 2020 legislative session, a virtually identical bill was included. It appears HB2124 became the vehicle for final passage to accommodate the number of representatives who wanted to be listed among the sponsors of this public-interest measure.

Representatives signing on as introducers of HB2124 were Chris Lee, Tom Brower, Stacelynn Eli, Daniel Holt, Aaron Ling Johanson, John Mizuno, Dee Morikawa, Nadine Nakamura, Mark Nakashima, Amy Perruso, Scott Saiki, Roy Takumi, and Tina Wildberger.

The measure moved smoothly through both houses to passage, and there was no testimony opposing the measure presented in any of the four public hearings.

So why is the governor threatening to veto it?

Here’s Gov. Ige’s explanation for why he intends to veto the bill.

Rationale: The additional restrictions put on volunteer boards and commissions members who fulfill an important role in protecting our community through their service will make it significantly more challenging to recruit for already difficult to fill positions.

The problem here is that the “rationale,” such as it is, misses the point.

Out of approximately 170 boards and commissions in Hawai‘i, there are only six volunteer boards/commissions whose members would be affected by this bill (and for one of those six Boards – the Board of Education – the bill only applies to the Chairperson):

Agribusiness Development Corporation (several of whose members serve ex officio)
Campaign Spending Commission
Hawaii Community Development Authority
Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation
Hawaii Tourism Authority
Board of Education (Chairperson only)

Daniel Gluck, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, points out that he is one of the officials who would be subject to the 12-month “no lobbying” provision.

Public Citizen, the nonprofit and nonpartisan public interest organization, says the government-to-lobbyist revolving door threatens the integrity of government in at least three ways.

Public officials may be influenced in official actions by the implicit or explicit promise of a lucrative job in the private sector with an entity seeking a government contract or to shape public policy.

Public officials-turned-lobbyists will have access to lawmakers that is not available to others, access that can be sold to the highest bidder among industries seeking to lobby.

The special access and inside connections to sitting government officials by former officials-turned-lobbyists comes at a hefty price tag, providing wealthy special interests that can afford hiring such revolvers with a powerful means to influence government unavailable to the rest of the public.

If you would like to let the governor that you support integrity in government and HB2124, you can use this email form on the governor’s website, or phone the governor’s office at (808) 586-0034.

Below are the specific positions that would be affected by HB2124.

…the following individuals shall not represent any person or business for a fee or other consideration regarding any legislative or administrative action, as defined in section 97-1, for twelve months after termination from their respective positions:

(1) The governor;

(2) The lieutenant governor;

(3) The administrative director of the State;

(4) The attorney general;

(5) The comptroller;

(6) The chairperson of the board of agriculture;

(7) The director of finance;

(8) The director of business, economic development and tourism;

(9) The director of commerce and consumer affairs;

(10) The adjutant general;

(11) The chairperson of the board of education;

(12) The superintendent of education;

(13) The chairperson of the Hawaiian homes commission;

(14) The director of health;

(15) The director of human resources development;

(16) The director of human services;

(17) The director of labor and industrial relations;

(18) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources;

(19) The director of public safety;

(20) The director of taxation;

(21) The director of transportation;

(22) The president of the university of Hawaii;

(23) The trustees and the administrator of the office of Hawaiian affairs;

(24) The chief information officer;

(25) The members of the board of directors and the executive director of the agribusiness development corporation;

(26) The members and the executive director of the campaign spending commission;

(27) The members and the executive director of the Hawaii community development authority;

(28) The members of the board of directors and the executive director of the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation;

(29) The members of the board of directors and the president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii tourism authority;

(30) The members and the executive officer of the public utilities commission;

(31) The state auditor;

(32) The director of the legislative reference bureau;

(33) The ombudsman;

(34) The permanent employees of the legislature, other than persons employed in clerical, secretarial, or similar positions;

(35) The administrative director of the courts; and

(36) Every executive director, director, or administrator of a board, authority, or commission listed in section 84-17(d).

State Ethics Commission offers new online complaint process

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The Hawaii State Ethics Commission has a new online complaint form available on its website.

Dan Gluck, the commission’s executive director, called attention to it in a comment here this week.

“If you (or anyone else) believe that a state official has abused her/his position or has otherwise violated the Ethics Code, please contact the Ethics Commission,” Gluck wrote.

The commission administers the disclosure requirements of the state ethics and lobbyists laws, and enforces the substantive provisions of both laws.

The state ethics code prohibits public officials and employees from accepting gifts that could be interpreted as intending to influence their official decisions; prohibits disclosure of confidential information, favoritism or abuse of official positions for their own or someone else’s benefit, and conflicts of interest.

The lobbbyists law requires regular disclosure of what is spent on lobbying activities, and prohibits lobbyists from requesting or accepting payment “in any way contingent upon the defeat, enactment, or outcome of any proposed legislative or administrative action.”

Here’s further information that appears on the commission website explaining how to file a complaint.

The Commission enforces the State Ethics Code (Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 84) and the State Lobbyists Law (Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 97). The Commission receives and reviews complaints, and conducts confidential investigations concerning potential violations of the law. If appropriate, the Commission may initiate formal charges against individuals and proceed to a contested case hearing in accordance with Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 91. If a violation is found, the Commission has the authority to levy fines of up to $1,000 per violation, and other penalties may also be imposed.

Complaints that have first-hand information about the wrongdoing – that is, complaints where you have personally witnessed the wrongdoing – are more helpful than reports of potential misconduct that you’ve read about in the newspaper.

There are two ways to alert the State Ethics Commission (“Commission”) about a possible violation of the State Ethics Code or Lobbyists Law:

  • Contact us with a complaint.
    You can complete this form, call us at (808) 587-0460, e-mail us, or send us a letter (1001 Bishop St. #970, Honolulu, HI 96813) alleging a violation of the State Ethics Code or the Lobbyists law – all we need is a brief description of the alleged violation and the name and state position (or organization) of the alleged violator, if known. All complaints are confidential.  Most complaints lodged with the Commission are done through this “informal” method, though you can also file a formal Charge directly with the Commission.

  • File a Charge directly with the Commission. You can file a formal Charge directly with the Commission at any time (within the six-year statute of limitations for State Ethics Code violations and the three-year statute of limitations for Lobbyists Law violations). The process for filing a Charge is set forth in Hawaii Administrative Rules (“HAR”) section 21-5-1. Charges must be signed under oath and may not be anonymous. As described above in #1, the Commission can also issue a Charge itself, usually after someone makes an informal complaint to the Commission and the Commission staff has investigated the matter.