Bill on ethics won't reform anything | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Bill on ethics won't reform anything | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Bill on ethics won't reform anything

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GET INVOLVED

Voters can register their views on HB1909 by contacting:

• House Speaker Calvin Say, 586-6100, fax 586-6101, e-mail repsay@capitol.hawaii.gov

• Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, 586-7793, fax 586-7797, e-mail senhanabusa@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Lawmakers who claim a commitment to legislative ethics: Now's your chance to add some muscle to the flabby "standards of conduct" bill poised for a third reading in the House.

Today is the deadline for all measures originating in one chamber to "cross over" to the other, and among the legions of bills lined up at the gate is House Bill 1909.

The bill would establish standards of conduct committees in each house. Considering that there is now no permanent structure for handling complaints about members' conflicts of interest and other ethical issues, is this the proverbial "better than nothing" measure?

Nope. The problem with a bill this weak is that lawmakers will claim they've taken action when they've only paid lip service to ethics reform. That's just not enough.

Among the weaknesses:

The bill should codify the rules already adopted (but easily waived) by the House and Senate. But it merely mandates that the committees "recommend ethics rules for members and employees of its respective house." That will needlessly delay the launch of these committees.

The House and Senate committees will take up issues as requested by, respectively, the House speaker or the Senate president, who also will be chairing the committees. There's already enough power concentrated in those two positions without allowing them to preside over ethics decisions, too.

The bill describes them as "bipartisan" committees but leaves blank how many Democrats or Republicans would sit on them and who would make the appointments.

These blanks would have to be filled-in during House-Senate conference negotiations. It would be smart for Republicans and others with an interest in bipartisan oversight to apply pressure on the Capitol leadership to see that this commitment is met.

As for today's vote, the House should have some guts and allow these panels to operate more independently of the powers that be. So pick up the phone or send them an e-mail and let them know business as usual doesn't cut it — you, the taxpayer, deserve better.

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