Family Forum, Catholic Church settle ethics charges

Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference have filed new and revised spending reports with the state Ethics Commission and will pay a total of $3,000 to the state general fund to resolve complaints about their lobbying activity.

Holly Huber, a public advocate, had filed charges with the Ethics Commission against both organizations for failing to properly disclose their lobbying.

The forum will pay $2,000 and the conference will pay $1,000 to two separate "resolutions of charge" the commission made public Thursday.

The payments were not fines imposed by the commission, but agreed-upon payments to resolve the charges, according to Les Kondo, executive director of the Ethics Commission. Normally, the parties facing charges remain confidential unless a public hearing is held, but the commission required public disclosure in this case to resolve the charges.

For a payment to be a fine or penalty, it must be imposed after a contested case hearing, and there was none.

In her complaints, Huber had alleged Hawaii Family Forum understated its lobbying expenses and omitted contributions it received from the Hawaii Catholic Conference as well as from Focus on the Family Action.

She also alleged that the Catholic group failed to register as a lobbyist or report lobbying expenditures, despite engaging in considerable lobbying.

The Catholic Conference responded that it did not realize it had to separately file lobbying reports and has now done so. Walter Yoshi­mi­tsu, the registered lobbyist for the church, said it was simpler to settle than to fight the charges.

"Many times, it costs you more money to try to defend than to settle," Yoshi­mi­tsu said. "We were guilty of filing late but not anything else. The best thing to do is just to settle and get it out of the way. It was not a fine in any case."

Former Ethics Commissioner Jacqueline Kido told the Star-Advertiser she was glad that the church now recognizes the need to disclose its lobbying efforts.

"The Roman Catholic Church has been one of the most active lobbying organizations in Hawaii for a long, long time" on issues ranging from "death with dignity" to same-sex marriage, said Kido, who took part in the case but stepped down as a commissioner last month.

"The church was wrong in not disclosing to the public how much they were spending on these efforts," Kido said. "This has changed now, and should send a message to others who lobby elected officials to inquire into whether filings are warranted in their particular case. We have a lobbying law for good reason."

Hawaii Family Forum, whose mission is to preserve and strengthen "traditional Judeo-Christian family values," said some of the expenses questioned weren’t for lobbying and that donations it received were for general support. But it amended its reports in response to the complaint, and included contributions such as $20,000 from Focus on the Family Action in 2009.

"Since Hawaii Family Forum thought they were doing things correctly, and the rules and statutes as to who has to file and report are not all that clear, it just made sense to do a settlement and move on," said James Hochberg, attorney for the forum.

"Hawaii Family Forum is happy to have all of its required reports correctly filed with the Ethics Commission," he added.

Huber said she wishes the facts had been aired in a public hearing, with a chance for give-and-take as well as harsher consequences. She also thinks the Ethics Commission should have broadened the investigation.

"I’m very unhappy with the outcome of this," Huber said. "This is a giveaway to the Catholic Church and the Hawaii Family Forum, and this is a slap in the face to the people of Hawaii."

"What I find extremely disappointing is they did not address any of the federal court filings that I provided to them," she said. "The Hawaii Family Forum not just admits to, but brags about the extent of their lobbying over 15 years."

In March, in a sworn declaration by communications director Eva Andrade, the forum touted its "focused lobbying efforts" in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and previous efforts to protect traditional marriage as justification for intervening in a federal lawsuit on the issue. Andrade described "extensive public communications and outreach," urging citizens to contact and visit their legislators, and organizing testimony and an "ongoing, visible presence" in the galleries at the state Capitol.

Huber, a founder of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, had also filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service in 2010 about the forum’s lobbying activity. Later that year the forum had to pay $20,741 in taxes for exceeding federal limits on lobbying in 2009. Normally, as a charity, it is exempt from paying taxes.

The nonprofit reported spending $125,695 on lobbying and $87,955 on other activities in 2009. In the most recent tax return available, for 2010, its lobbying expenses had dropped to just $11,639, with $319,921 in "other expenses." Hochberg said the group conducts voter registration drives and holds educational seminars, encouraging pastors to exercise their First Amendment rights.