tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246309912011-04-21T10:53:16.411-10:00In a democracy, government must function under a presumption of openness. Open government instills public trust. When our state legislature increasingly operates outside the view of the people, we need to have a few words with them. After all, they work for us...Larrynoreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-52387032066536972172007-10-17T12:06:00.000-10:002007-10-17T12:23:24.356-10:00

When this website was created there were certain reforms that looked urgent. Life goes on, of course, even at the Legislature. At this writing legislative leadership has locked down the facility, oops, I mean the State Capitol. They are excluding the public from the decisionmaking process around creating an exemption to Hawaii's protective environmental laws for one company--the Hawaii

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1147338865737623022006-05-10T23:05:00.000-10:002006-05-10T23:18:12.850-10:00

I learned today from KITV reporter Denby Fawcett that SR168 was introduced by Sen. Bunda to change Senate rules so that embedded corporate lobbyists would no longer be allowed. Unfortunately, the resolution wasn't adopted.Let's keep the pressure on, and perhaps the rule can be changed in the next session.Now about the House...

Larrynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1145578640795263712006-04-20T13:45:00.000-10:002006-04-20T14:19:42.770-10:00

House Minority Leader Rep. Lynn Finnegan decried the lack of notification on a flock of bills passed out of the House this week."The majority rushed through some 30 bills yesterday, instead of giving members of the House and the public 24 hour advanced notice before voting on final reading."In her Tuesday news release, Rep. Finnegan acknowledges that the 24 hour notice is practiced as a courtesy.

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1145068467909294972006-04-14T16:28:00.000-10:002006-04-14T16:34:27.926-10:00

See today's Star-Bulletin article: Executive's role as intern at Legislature questioned and this Disappeared News post.And yes, please sign the petition if you have not yet done so. Thank you!Tags: Abramoff, lobbyists, lobbying, interns, Monica Lewinsky, legislature, Hawaii, health insurance, rate regulation, Bring Sunshine to Hawaii

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1144978035578557152006-04-13T15:11:00.000-10:002006-04-13T15:27:15.593-10:00

Click here to read a letter from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission to legislators dated April 5, 2006.Click here to read the most recent complaint, by Kokua Council.Click here for the Pacific Business News article Companies place workers at State Capitol dated 3/21/2006.Click here for the Pacific Business News article Capitol interns to get ethics review dated 4/7/2006.Tags: ethics, ethics

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1143646178857925042006-03-29T05:14:00.000-10:002006-03-29T05:29:41.010-10:00

In today's Honolulu Advertiser Volcanic Ash column, Legislators work hard for their money, David Shapiro describes how the gutting and replacement of SB1061, a bill passed unanimously by the Senate, was used to keep lobbyist money flowing in:Giving credit where due, the Senate did unanimously pass a worthwhile reform this year to prohibit lobbyists from making political donations when the

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1143601544977152462006-03-27T16:58:00.000-10:002006-03-29T08:54:32.433-10:00

I received an email tip to check out this bill. Here's what I found: We're being cheated again as the House Water, Land, & Ocean Resources Committee hides its actions from the public.The text of SB1015 is posted on the Capitol website here. On Friday afternoon the committee sent out a hearing notice for Tuesday. The notice says "PROPOSED HD1 available in room 432." The new text is described:

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1143200892338311352006-03-23T22:37:00.000-10:002006-03-24T01:57:55.660-10:00

Hawaii's gas cap law has been the subject of controversy, with the Senate tending to revise the current law and the House preferring to repeal it. The public should have been given every opportunity to review the proposed measures and to give their testimony to lawmakers.Instead, text of the proposed House amendments were effectively withheld from the majority of the public, and a hearing was

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1143198311498385492006-03-21T22:40:00.000-10:002006-03-24T01:41:13.600-10:00

Example: House Judiciary CommitteeThe bill SB1061 on the Capitol website "Prohibits a lobbyist who lobbies the legislature, principal of a lobbyist, client or agent of lobbyist, and a political action committee on which the lobbyist sits from making a contribution to a member of the legislature, the governor, and lieutenant governor while the legislature is in session."According to the status

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24630991.post-1143202626014196152006-03-20T21:00:00.000-10:002006-03-24T09:29:26.696-10:00

The question of whether psychologists should have prescriptive authority under HB2589 has been very contentious with lobbyists busy lobbying and a great deal of written and oral testimony submitted.A hearing on this bill was held on March 20, 2006 by the Senate Health Committee and was very lengthy, with some testifiers preparing and submitting detailed material.After hearing all the testimony,

Larrynoreply@blogger.com0