A new law restricting nepotism in state government has won widespread praise from good-government watchdogs, including the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

“We’re viewing this as 95% of a manapua, and we’ll take it,” said Robert Harris, executive director of the commission. “We’ll take the win.”

Still, it’s the other 5% that’s concerning. The law applies to state employees, but specifically exempts the Legislature and Judiciary from its provisions.

Why? According to state Rep. David Tarnas, the state Constitution says that “we (the Legislature) have to regulate ourselves.” That means the House and Senate have incorporated anti-nepotism provisions in their rule books.

As for the Judiciary, Tarnas said, “They’re so careful, otherwise they really compromise their ability to render judgment. So they’re hypersensitive about it.”

The original language of House Bill 717 (now Act 261), as proposed by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct, included legislators as well as other state employees. The ethics commission endorsed that version of the bill as well.

Regardless, the public should expect the Legislature and Judiciary to hew closely to the intent and language of Act 261. The law generally prohibits state employees from taking employment-related actions affecting relative or household members, including hiring, promoting, retaining or supervising.

It also prohibits state employees from being involved in contracts awarded to businesses that relatives or household members own or manage, or in which they have a substantial interest.

There are some reasonable exceptions. But they require good cause, an application to the ethics commission, and full public and transparent disclosure.

These are good rules, and long overdue. They are especially important in a small state like Hawaii, where ties to family and friends are uncommonly close and intertwined. And in the Legislature, where vast sums of public money are spend on business contracts, the legislators who control this largesse need to be especially careful.

It will fall on the ethics commission to monitor and take any necessary action when the nepotism rules are violated. It can be a tough job — without good information, unlawful actions relating to nepotism can be difficult to ferret out, especially in a large bureaucracy. Fortunately, the commission has a process that allows the public to report ethics violations. Find it at 808ne.ws/ethicscomplaint.