Ruling on confirmations could draw political heat

Gov. Josh Green’s appointee for state attorney general has informed state Senate President Ron Kouchi that she agrees with a previous attorney general’s opinion that seven deputy directors of state agencies — including her own — do not have to undergo Senate confirmation.

Different Senate committees will hold separate confirmation hearings for Green’s 20 Cabinet nominees and most of their deputies. It’s uncertain how attorney general appointee Anne Lopez’s Feb. 14 opinion will be received by senators.

She wrote that she is in agreement with a 2015 opinion issued by the Department of the Attorney General that her deputy is exempt from confirmation — along with six others.

Lopez faces confirmation before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

How her opinion is interpreted could further raise the temperature of the Senate confirmation process following Ikaika Anderson’s failed nomination last week to lead the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

The opinion, however, could serve as a simple reminder that the status quo remains in effect, said Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center.

“It could have been worse,” Moore said. “It’s probably a preemptive action to prevent fears of greater conflict, to cool things down a bit.

“This can be useful in a time of tense confirmation hearings — to take some unknown off the table to reduce the possible range of conflict here,” he said. “My guess is that there was a question raised; it’s legitimate that a new AG could have a new interpretation of the law.”

Lopez wrote to Kouchi that state law provides that deputies who do not fall under Senate confirmation include her own; the deputy director of the new Department of Law Enforcement; deputy to the chair of the Commission of Water Resource Management, who is appointed by the chair of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources; deputy director of the Department of Public Safety; and Department of Transportation deputies for its Airports, Harbors and Highways divisions.

Senate confirmation hearings represent senators’ biggest opportunity to question Green’s Cabinet nominees for jobs that could last over the next four years, which adds to the emotions and politics at the state Capitol over hearings that are “fraught with anxiety,” said political analyst Neal Milner.

“It’s an important time,” Milner said. “It’s a job that’s far more important than the public realizes. It’s a very important job that’s really hard. It’s a whole different ballgame once they’re confirmed.”