State Ethics Commission staff say lawmakers may have misused their taxpayer-funded annual allowances, and they plan to take a closer look at recent expenditures, particularly those for meals, hotels and event tickets.
Members of the state Senate and House of Representatives are given $13,008 annually to cover expenses related to their official duties, such as postage for mailers and office supplies. Staff told the five-member commission, during a monthly meeting in downtown Honolulu on Thursday, that some of the lawmakers’ expenditures might violate the State Ethics Code.
“Certain legislators have things that raise concerns, like a hotel — that is something that should probably be in the per diem,” said Les Kondo, executive director of the Ethics Commission. Usually, House members who commute from the neighbor islands use a separate per diem allowance to cover hotel costs.
“We want to make sure it isn’t a double dip,” Kondo said.
Last year the Ethics Commission passed guidelines for how law-makers should use their legislative allowances. The guidelines were passed over the objections of then-Senate President Donna Mercado Kim (D-Kalihi Valley-Moanalua-Halawa) and House Speaker Joe Souki (D-Waihee-Waiehu-Wailuku).
Kim and Souki argued that the commission was overstepping its bounds and didn’t have the authority to advise the Legislature on its spending habits.
The commission disagreed and passed guidelines advising lawmakers that it was wrong to use the allowance on political and charitable contributions, dry cleaning costs, reimbursements for travel to and from work, retirement and staff appreciation gifts, tickets for events, and food and beverages to thank staff.
In recent weeks Ethics Commission staff have been reviewing a list of expenditures made by lawmakers between late January and early June which was provided to them by clerks for the House and Senate who approve the expenses.
A breakdown of the expenditures shows that on the whole lawmakers spent 39 percent of their allowances on office-related expenses, 19 percent on food and drinks, 16 percent on travel and the rest on transportation, meetings and opening day expenses, such as lei.
However, itemized lists of lawmakers’ expenses provide only general descriptions of how the money was used, making it difficult for Ethics Commission staff to tell whether the expenditures fall within guidelines.
Lawmakers were told that they should be spending money on food and drinks only during opening day at the Legislature, for constituents when they hold community meetings, or when legislative hearings extend through lunch and dinner. Food and drinks for social occasions, such as birthdays or farewell parties, are considered personal expenses.
However, lawmakers’ expenditure reports usually don’t specify the occasion for the meals or refreshments.
A number of lawmakers also indicated in their expense reports that they had spent funds on event tickets, but were not specific about the events or how they might be related to their official duties.
The commission staff didn’t divulge specific expenses or indicate which lawmakers had raised concerns.
Kondo said that he didn’t want staff to spend too much time digging into lawmakers’ expenses and asking for more detailed information.
“In terms of where we want to spend our resources, I’m not sure we want to get the backup for all this food — maybe we want to pick and choose a couple and take a little sampling, but certainly not all,” he said. “I think we have to be smart about how we are going to examine this kind of stuff.”
Souki and Senate President Ron Kouchi (D-Kauai- Niihau) didn’t respond to inquiries about whether they were concerned about the ongoing oversight by the Ethics Commission.
