HOOSER: What a novel idea: lawmakers follow the law

Will your state legislator tell you the truth when they answer the three questions below? Will they look for proactive and positive solutions or will they deny there is a problem and look the other way? Ask them, please!

1) Are any legislators soliciting campaign contributions during the legislative session from individuals/entities who have outstanding issues/bills that this legislator will vote on?

2) Do any committee chairs and their members meet privately for the purpose of making a decision on matters referred to that committee?

3) Do any legislators, committee chairs and/or members of the legislative leadership reject bills for personal and/or political reasons, and not based on the content of the proposal?

If they answer yes, ask them if they are ready to support the following proposed solutions or do they have other alternative solutions to propose? If they answer no, they are lying to you.

From my experience of serving in the State Senate for eight years, on the County Council for eight years, and as an overseas legislative policy advocate for another eight years, I believe that the way the The work the people are doing today at the State Capitol is too often both unethical and illegal.

Maybe it’s always been bad, but it’s worse now than I’ve ever seen. Or it may have taken me years to open my eyes to political corruption, unethical and illegal actions. Either way, things are going badly.

Here are three actions that could be taken by the Legislative Assembly to end this unethical and illegal activity.

1. Prohibit the solicitation and acceptance of campaign funds during the legislative session. Many other states prohibit this practice. This is not about prohibiting events, it is about prohibiting asking for or accepting money during the legislative session;

2. Demand that the Legislature abide by the State Constitution, Article III, Section 12. It’s the 60,000 pound gorilla in the room: too many decisions are made in the dark, out of the sun and public surveillance – and it’s against the law. The Hawaii State Constitution, Article III, Section 12, states: “Any meeting of a committee of either House or of a committee consisting of a member or members of both chambers, held for the purpose of making a decision on matters before the committee will be open to the public.” It is now common practice for committee members, certainly chairpersons, to meet in private “for the purpose of making a decision on matters referred to committee.” They meet in private, negotiate in private, and agree results in private, walking out of closed and private meetings to announce the outcome, and then formally vote in the open meeting. This clearly violates the Constitution of the state and fosters a climate of secret deals made in secret places Public business must be done in public;

3. End the unilateral power of a committee chair by requiring publicly recorded votes by committee members on decisions to hear, kill, or pass a bill.

Some presidents kill a bill simply because a friend, colleague, or leader asked them to. We also know some do it for cash in envelopes, casino trips, and fancy dinners.

Presidents will kill bills simply by not scheduling them for a hearing, or if a measure is scheduled, they will kill it by simply declaring the bill to be “postponed.” In either case, no public vote is cast by the committee confirming the chair’s decision.

If a publicly recorded vote of individual committee members were required to kill a bill, then the president’s unilateral power would be greatly diminished, the democratic process greatly enhanced, and the appeal of corruption greatly reduced.

Yes, the majority of members who sit on a committee can request and demand a vote or a hearing. However, a legislator making such a request risks retaliation from the presidency. Mandating public votes to hear, kill or pass bills eliminates the very real threat of retaliation.

The above proposals are not too complicated or difficult to implement. Item #1 is easy. Items 2 and 3 require the adoption of a legislative budget and timetable to allow for additional time and additional staff that may be required.

Item 2 requires lawmakers to obey the law and comply with the State Constitution, Article III, Section 12.

What an original idea: legislators follow the law.

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Gary Hooser is the former Vice President of the Hawaii Democratic Party and served eight years in the State Senate, where he was Majority Leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua’i County Council and was the former director of the state’s Office of Environmental Quality Control. He is Chairman of the Board of the Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action on a pro bono basis and Executive Director of the Pono Hawai’i Initiative.