Bill to allow lawmakers to hold jobs at UH likely dead for ‘16

State lawmakers rejected a bill Tuesday that would have allowed the University of Hawaii system to hire members of the Legislature.

House Bill 1556 would have effectively reversed a university ban on employing lawmakers that has been in place at UH since at least 1966. A House-Senate conference committee deferred action on the bill indefinitely Tuesday, which means it is likely dead for the year.

House Higher Education Chairman Isaac Choy said that if lawmakers had passed the bill, Attorney General Douglas Chin planned to recommend that Gov. David Ige veto the measure because it would conflict with provisions of the state Constitution.

The state Attorney General’s Office submitted testimony to lawmakers last week warning that the measure might conflict with a constitutional provision prohibiting the same person from holding two “incompatible” public offices.

Board of Regents policy requires that an employee of the UH system take a leave of absence without pay while campaigning for political office, and requires the employee to resign from university service before he or she takes office upon winning an election.

Choy (D, Manoa-Punahou-­Moiliili) said he still supports the idea of allowing lawmakers to hold university positions as long as those jobs do not conflict with their duties as legislators.

“To me, I’m still thinking that having any kind of discriminatory employment practices is not right, so I’m going to have to look at it next year again. … It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.

A number of lawmakers have had to resign from teaching or administrative positions at the university in recent years after winning election to office, including Rep. Andria Tupola (R, Kalaeloa-Ko Olina-Maili); Rep. Ryan Yamane (D, Mililani-­Waipio-Waikele); and Rep. Gregg Takayama (D, Pearl City-Waimalu-Pacific Palisades).

In defending its policy, the university cites a 1992 opinion by the state attorney general that concluded the duties of a state lawmaker are “incompatible” with the responsibilities of an employee of any state department, and therefore the state Constitution does not allow anyone to simultaneously fill both of those roles.

University officials cite other concerns with elected officials who also work on campus.

One problem is that a rank-and-file university employee who is also a lawmaker could essentially have oversight over the entire university and its budget during the legislative session, an arrangement that tends to confuse the issue of who is the boss and who is the subordinate.

Another concern is that an elected official might use political leverage to win a desirable second job in the UH system. Yet another possibility is that a campus might deliberately hire a lawmaker as a tactic to help gain extra funding or other benefits from the Legislature.