Advocates of casinos spent big on lobbying
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mainland investors who want to open two casinos on O'ahu spent more money touting their agenda before lawmakers at the start of this legislative session than any other group, state Ethics Commission records show.
Marketing Resource Group, of Lansing, Mich., reported spending $108,679 on lobbying through January and February, the period covered by lobbyist expenditure reports due at the commission yesterday.
The company is a public relations firm employed by investors in a Detroit casino called MotorCity, and last year set up an organization of supporters here called Holomua Hawai'i, named after the Hawaiian word for progress.
The casino investors include Marian Illitch, whose family owns the Detroit Tigers baseball team and Little Caesars pizza chain. They want to build casinos in Waikiki and Leeward O'ahu, and Holomua Hawai'i collected petition signatures from 25,000 Hawai'i residents who support gambling.
The group also produced a video in which economists and others argue that gambling would create jobs, provide more government revenue, and boost the state economy.
But others said they fear gambling could increase crime and corruption, and lawmakers roundly rejected a bill that would authorize the casinos, leaving it very unlikely that the state will legalize gambling this year.
Marketing Resource Group could also be fined for failing to disclose its lobbying activities to the Ethics Commission for the previous reporting period, from May to December.
Commission executive director Dan Mollway said organizations that employ lobbyists and refuse to file reports could be fined up to $500, but most comply voluntarily.
Marketing Resource Group could not be reached for comment yesterday. The firm's Hawai'i lobbyist, John Radcliffe, said he did not know why the report was missing, but that it had been lost in a Michigan snow storm when it was first mailed. The report was due at the commission by the end of January.
Another group that wants to legalize gambling, the Coalition for Economic Diversity, reported spending $9,832 lobbying during the previous period and said it spent less than $10,000 in January and February.
The group is backed by Sun International Hotels Ltd., which wants to build a $1 billion resort and casino at Ko Olina in Leeward O'ahu.
Hawaiian Airlines reported spending $8,300 on lobbying during January and February. Hawaiian, which sought to merge with rival Aloha Airlines, had reported spending more than $140,000 on lobbying during the previous period.
But Hawaiian later said it had mistakenly inflated that figure by including payments for work other than lobbying. In an amended report, Hawaiian said it really spent only $8,250 on lobbying during the May-December period.
The company had initially reported paying more than $83,000 to lobbyist Lyn Anzai, wife of state Attorney General Earl Anzai, whose office was investigating whether the merger would be legal.
The amended report reflects no lobbyist payments between May and December to Lyn Anzai, who is also Hawaiian's general counsel. The report for January and February said Anzai was paid $2,043 for lobbying during that period.
Reach Johnny Brannon at 525-8070 or jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
