House kills bid for elected attorney general
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
A proposal to ask voters if they want the state attorney general and insurance commissioner to be elected was nixed in a joint House-Senate committee yesterday.
The House Judiciary Committee had inserted the controversial plan earlier this month into Senate Bill 3113, an unrelated proposal to qualify automatically for absentee voting the residents of Kalawao county, which consists of the town of Kalaupapa on Moloka'i.
House conferees yesterday agreed to restore the bill to its original form, dropping language pertaining to a constitutional amendment proposal that would have asked voters if they want to elect the attorney general and insurance commissioner.
Yesterday was the Legislature's internal deadline for each house to submit final language on constitutional amendment bills to Gov. Linda Lingle. While the governor cannot veto constitutional amendment proposals, the deadline is designed to give her a chance to comment to the legislators.
The House's change in position leaves three constitutional amendment questions alive this session. A fourth already is on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully for a number of years to push through the Democratic-dominated Legislature a bill requiring an elected attorney general. But many from both parties opposed the current bill, citing the language adding the insurance commissioner as an elected office. They also question the wisdom of inserting the language into an unrelated bill without a proper hearing in the Senate.
Most of the residents of Kalaupapa, the settlement for Hansen's disease patients, are frail and elderly. Sen. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i), said Kalaupapa residents were grateful that the bill's original purpose had been restored. "They will be very pleased to hear that their voting rights are protected," he said.
House Judiciary Chairman Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (Hilo, Kea'au, Mountain View), noted: "Although we feel very strongly about an elected AG ... after having a long discussion with Sen. English, he convinced us of the wisdom of the (original) bill, and we will agree to the draft."
The constitutional amendment proposal already on the ballot involves a practice commonly known as "information charging" or "direct filing." Both houses of the Legislature have approved Senate Bill 2851, which asks voters again to allow prosecutors to send felony cases to trial based on written reports to a state judge.
A similar question approved by 57 percent of voters in 2002 was struck down by the Hawai'i Supreme Court in February on technical flaws.
Three other constitutional amendment questions are still alive this session, including two controversial proposals related to child or sex abuse.
Senate Bill 2843, "Megan's Amendment," allows for quicker public access to information about some convicted sex offenders residing in a community. Lawmakers would decide what kinds of sex offenders would be put on a public registry and whether some should get a hearing beforehand. The bill also would allow offenders on the public list to petition to be removed.
Earlier disagreements between Senate and House leaders resulted in a compromise draft that will be voted on Monday by the Senate.
Senate Bill 2846, the so-called "rape shield" amendment, allows the Legislature to make inadmissible in trial any privileged communications between a victim and her counselor, physician or other medical practitioner. It is also slated for a Monday vote.
Meanwhile, a conference committee yesterday advanced House Bill 2789, the "repeat offender" provision. The amendment would allow the Legislature to define what constitutes "a continuing course of conduct in sexual assault cases." The House is expected to vote on a Senate version of the bill next week.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
