A memo by newly appointed state Attorney General Clare Connors caused a stir this week because it instructed representatives of state departments who testify at the Legislature that their testimony “shall not contain personal opinions of any kind.”
The memo circulated to state departments also instructed those who testify at the Capitol that “if the individual testifying on behalf of a department is asked for a personal opinion, s/he shall decline to offer one …”
Former state Rep. Jim Shon said the memo bothers him because expert opinion “is absolutely essential to help legislators make good choices.” He said the memo “can only be characterized as censorship.”
People have worked in government for many years and developed significant expertise, but Connors’ Feb. 15 memo suggests they cannot share that expertise with lawmakers, said Shon, who is director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Shon said that in his time as a lawmaker from 1984 to 1996, he relied on opinions of state employees to help shape policy. “How are you going to make more thoughtful, effective legislation if you don’t rely on the expert opinions of people who know something?” he asked.
The memo also raised concern for Senate Ways and Means Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, who agreed that lawmakers rely on input from the staff who run state programs.
“To stymie them and prevent them from testifying and give us all the information, I don’t think is a good thing,” he said. “If they’re being told to hold the party line, which prevents us from getting all the information that we need, then that’s not a good thing.”
State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim said lawmakers actually ask department employees for their opinions “because many times they’re on the frontline.”
“We want to get as much input (as possible) before we make our decisions, and to me this really shuts down getting that kind of feedback and discussion,” she said. Kim said she has never seen a memo like the one issued by Connors before.
Connors said in an interview Wednesday her memo was meant to apply only to people who testify to the Legislature on behalf of their departments.
“That’s all that this is meant to clarify — that if you are speaking on behalf of the department or an agency, you have to make that clear,” she said. “If you’re testifying in your personal capacity, then say you’re testifying in your personal capacity, but it shouldn’t be at the same time you’re providing testimony on the behalf of the department.”
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