Property disclosure bill off the table
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Lawmakers have quietly shelved a bill that would have required candidates for state elective offices to disclose whether they are investors in property or businesses outside Hawai'i.
Proponents of House Bill 533 say the intent was to close a loophole in the state ethics code, which requires candidates and office holders to report only their Hawai'i property and business holdings.
That makes it hard to determine whether officials have financial ties to special interests in other states or foreign countries where they could be in a position to benefit.
Candidates and incumbents must report Hawai'i business investments of $5,000 or more and the ownership of property worth $10,000 or more. The disclosure statements are public records filed with the Ethics Commission.
"The idea is to allow voters to see if they have financial interests that would make them a poor choice, in terms of conflicts of interest," commission director Dan Mollway said.
But the law was drafted in 1972, in a time when it was assumed that out-of-state interests wouldn't be subject to decisions made in Hawai'i, he said.
"That may have been the way the world was at that time, but now it's a much smaller world," said Mollway, who supported the bill. "It wouldn't be unusual for a business or property to be affected by an action taken in Hawai'i."
The measure was sponsored by 17 House Democrats and won support from groups such as the League of Women Voters and Advocates for Consumer Rights.
"With the rapid expansion to a global economy ... , no longer can we claim that it is only the business and property interests held within this state that might have some influence on one's political decisions," the League said in testimony backing the bill.
It advanced to the Senate, but was never heard in committee there, and is almost certainly dead for this legislative session.
Mollway said he is puzzled why the bill, and others related to ethics, came so far and then fizzled.
"To hear them and then to kill them doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense," he said.
"I'm surprised that with all the interest in corruption and reform ... , there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in passing ethics legislation."
Mollway said no lawmakers had told him of any qualms about the bill. Gov. Linda Lingle said she would sign it into law if passed by the Legislature.
House Speaker Calvin Say said he was hopeful a similar bill would pass next year.
"I don't know what the hang-up is, but it's not something of dire emergency," he said. "But public officials should disclose what they own outside the state of Hawai'i."
The bill stalled after it was referred to the Senate's Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations Committee.
Sen. Cal Kawamoto, who heads the panel, said he was not against the bill, but did not hold a hearing on it because the committee had passed a Senate-sponsored version. That bill never made it out of the full Senate for a House vote, however, so neither measure advanced.
State Campaign Spending Commission director Robert Watada said voters have a right to know what their elected leaders own outside Hawai'i.
He said that during his investigation of Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign activities, for example, he found that Harris owned land outside the state.
There is no evidence that the property is linked to any conflict of interest, Watada said. But Harris would not have been required to disclose such holdings during his run for governor, leaving the public with no way to judge their significance.
Harris said that the only property he owns outside Hawai'i is a vacant parcel in Maine and that he owns no businesses. Lingle said she has no property or business holdings outside Hawai'i.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
