“Just the facts ma’am.” That’s the only way to write about the ugly death of HB371.
Below are those facts, sourced from the public record at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov
If passed into law, HB371 would have extended the ban on campaign contributions from government contractors to include company officers and family members. It was described by good government advocates as a critically important measure needed to fight corruption.
But HB371 was not passed into law. It was, instead, killed behind closed doors by Senate President Ron Kouchi, House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, Senate Ways and Means (WAM) Chair Donovan Dela Cruz, and House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita.
These 4 Democrats are the most influential legislators in state government. They held no public meetings to discuss the reasons behind their decision-making. They made their decisions in private; they discussed these decisions with the Conference Committee in private; and the Conference Committee then announced those decisions to the public.
These are facts — not speculation, not opinion, and not hyperbole.
According to the Campaign Spending Commission, it’s common for government contractors to get around the existing campaign contribution ban by having those persons connected to the contractor make political contributions.
Civil Beat called House Bill 371, “arguably the biggest reform measure of the session.” The bill sailed through the House and Senate with unanimous votes of support – both in committee and on the floor.
99% of testimony was in support of HB371. Only one person testified in opposition, citing “freedom of speech” concerns.
Not one Senator or Representative ever voted in opposition.
The first indication there could be a “problem” occurred on 04/22, just prior to the naming of “conferees” to sit on the House Conference Committee. That’s when House Speaker Nakamura “re-referred” the now amended bill, HB371SD1 to House Finance.
This move ensured that House Finance would have a Conference Committee vote – even though the measure had no direct budget impact, and the Finance Committee would hold no hearings.
The Conference Committee is responsible for “working out the differences” between the Senate and House amended versions of the bill.
When the Joint Conference Committee met on 04/22, House Judiciary Chair David Tarnas announced that “leadership was now involved,” the measure would likely thus be “weakened,” and the Committee must await direction from “leadership” (House Speaker Nakamura). It’s important to note that the House Speaker is also an ex officio member of the Judiciary Committee, per House Rules.
At this same meeting, Senate Judiciary Chair Senator Karl Rhoads acknowledged he’d received similar information from Senate Leadership — Senate President Kouchi.
On Friday 04/25, the Conference Committee reconvened. The two chairs announced that “leadership” had proposed significant amendments that weakened the bill, and they’d been unable to receive a “release” from House Finance or Senate WAM. Therefore, the bill would be deferred and is now dead.
HB371 did not require any funding whatsoever, nor did the subsequent and final amended version HB371HD1SD1.
Yet both Representative Yamashita (Chair of House Finance) and Senator Dela Cruz (Chair of WAM) refused to “release” the bill. As of this writing, neither have yet made any on-the-record statements as to their reasoning.
Likewise, neither Senate President Kouchi nor House Speaker Nakamura have issued any public statements about the rationale for their last-minute opposition.
HB371HD1SD1 was killed in the dark and nobody’s talking.
The discussion, deliberation, and decision-making was done in secret, behind closed doors via private “serial communications,” and only announced publicly after it was a done deal.
Hawai’i Democrats can, and must do better. How can we push back effectively against the abuse of power and trampling of the democratic process now occurring in Washington D.C., when here at home on Beretania Street, the same thing is occurring?
Final Fact: Nothing will change unless you, me, and we – take action. Please call and email each AND your own district Rep and Senator. Let them know how you feel about this, and ask them to fix it. Even if they do not respond, it’s important they know how people feel about this.
Final Final Fact. If they do respond, they will say “It’s too late, we’ve missed the deadline.” The truth is every single Senator and Representative has said they support passing HB371 into law. They thus have the votes to extend the deadline or even the legislative session for a few days if needed.
The main 4 legislators responsible for killing HB371:
Senate President Ron Kouchi 808-586-6030 senkouchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
House Speaker Nadine Nakamura 808-586-6100 repnakamura@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senate Ways and Means (WAM) Chair Donovan Dela Cruz 808-586-6090 sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov
House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita 808-586-6200 repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov
The 2 committee Chairs who held the hearings, listened and responded to the public testimony, refined and amended the bill, and then had the rug pulled from beneath them by the above 4:
House Judiciary Chair David Tarnas 808-586-8510 reptarnas@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senate Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads 808-586-6130 senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov
Your District Rep/Senator https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/fyl/
Please…make the calls…send the emails.
Express your thoughts on this important issue.
Take action.
Sincerely,
Gary Hooser
garyhooser.com (https://www.garyhooser.com/)
Former Vice Chair Democratic Party of Hawai’i
8 years – Kaua`i County Council
8 years – Hawai’i State Senate – 4 as Majority Leader
Policy and Politics – Hawaii and beyond, in real time – Stay informed. Get involved. Make a difference.
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GaryHooser's Blog 
Yes! This pissed me off. I let Nadine know..I look forward to her no answer answers reply..
Please pass the word and encourage others to let both Kauai legislators know…actually everyone in that big square building should know…that there are a whole lot of pissed off people out here. Even if they provide a non answer…it’s important that they be reminded that we are watching and sick and tired of business as usual. Mahalo Pamela.
You bet!!
This angers me too, but I disagree on one thing: “Come on Democrats. We can do better than this.“
No. They canʻt. I myself have been unable to call myself a Democrat for quite awhile now. They took away electoral options and the value of my vote by dominating politics with corruption like this.
This is why Hawaiʻi needs a new party that puts Hawaiʻi first–the land and people first–that puts an end to corruption, tax breaks for corporations and billionaires., and coddling of the military occupation. A party that gets back to governing.
The Republican Party in Hawaiʻi is hopeless. The Democratic Party is a scam.
Letʻs get real.
I hear you Richard, loud and clear. I called out the Democrats for a reason…and I will continue to do so. I want more and more people to also see that these are Democrats and members of the Democratic Party who are abusing the power, working in the back rooms, helping their friends and themselves at the public expense. But…I’m still thinking that locally it may be easier to “rebuild the Party” or “take over the Party”…than start a new Party from scratch…I’m open to the conversation…but all paths forward require people to step up and get involved and participate…But…you got me thinking.
Tar and feathers seems an appropriate remedy.Meanwhile at the national level, hard to imagine much more sinister than this:
Watch this before it is taken down by you tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ95Gmvg_D4
And “Democrats” are not going to save us.
Rather, regarding such governance, “it is the right of the people and their duty, to throw off such government and to create one that meets their needs.” slight paraphrase of the Declaration of Independence. Jon
Mahalo. Tar and feathers might work…but then again it seems a bit harsh…”Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture where a victim is stripped naked, or stripped to the waist, while wood tar (sometimes hot) is either poured or painted onto the person. The victim then either has feathers thrown on them or is rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stick to the tar.”
And of course they are entitled to due process…but in the court of public opinion…it seems pretty clear…and given that none of the accused are willing to stand up and speak out explaining why the money Chairs…refused to grant approval when the bill has no tangible budget impact etc .
Tagged this on the CB guest article by Wiems:
“By looks of all the comments, this hit a nerve. Maybe it’s time to add more names on the local walks of shame – Trump protests – happening once a month on our streets. It makes sense to tag on and protest the local debilitation of democracy right now, right here, in the pale blue state before it’s too late. We understand how fragile a thing it is.”
Also this thought: Per the tyranny of the money committees and those chairs. Even Congress utilizes a non partisan ‘Congressional Budget Office’ to analyze the fiscal impacts of select money bills. If we had that here it might undermine some of the arbitrary power used as another political backstop/routine to kill bills the legislators are too publicly afraid to oppose openly – such as campaign finances. Some have nothing to do with money anymore and still get waylaid. What a vicious charade!
(And Nadine!! What devil did she sell her soul too?)
Rob Culbertson
Good suggestions Rob. There was an attempt to require “fiscal notes” and some formal official public way to evaluate bills for financial impacts…but yep that died too. I agree in general we “collectively” need to start calling out Democrats who also are pursuing the path of increasingly centralized power, unilateral decision-making behind closed doors, and ignoring and disrespecting the publics right to participate in a meaningful way in the process.