Disappeared News

There are now about a half-dozen complaints filed with regard to the corporate interns in Hawaii's state legislature.

Rep. Bob Herkes not only has an embedded intern from HMSA in his office, but also one from SSFM Construction. I suppose it's possible that the SSFM Construction person works on health matters for Herkes and that the HMSA guy works on construction issues. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell to you.

Although the complaints make allegations, it may be hard for the Ethics Commission to pin down exactly what HMSA was able to accomplish in Herkes office this session. The NSA might know, but otherwise evidence may be hard to come by.

What is easier to demonstrate is that these corporate executives have unprecedented access to legislators. Every day they are in the office they have an opportunity to look and listen, learning what the committee chair is planning. Do they keep silent while there? Not likely. Would Mark Forman, the HMSA Foundation executive, be interested in talking about construction bills that pass through the committee? Maybe, but his area of expertise is health insurance. So you put it together.

The same would apply to the HECO embeds (there were supposed to be four of them this past session) in other legislative offices. I doubt they were interested in health care or construction, but their ears must have perked up any time an energy issue came through their offices.

Without these embeds, HMSA, HECO and others would be much less informed about what they need to do during the session. Their registered lobbyists can then work with legislators. In other words, the embeds most certainly can be the eyes and ears for their companies, and the registered lobbyists then head off trouble (e.g., bills favoring the people rather than their corporate interests) or take advantage of opportunities.

So far, no one has chased down the HECO embeds, including those in the Senate, probably because the House has been most wayward this legislative session, favoring big oil and insurance company interests over the interests of their constituents. Insurance rate regulation was killed by the House (they can't shift the blame because they refused to hear one bill and mucked up the other to favor the industry, then refused to re-convene the conference committee to fix it up). They killed the gas cap, leaving big oil to charge what it will, instead of improving it to protect consumers.

Yes, the House is responsible for this, and much more.

Worse, the House leadership has indeed taken the lead in legislative shenanigans, resorting to hiding the texts of amendments from the public and letting industry reps loose to write legislation that the people sometimes can't even see before a hearing is held. The 61-page gas cap amendment, for example, no doubt drafted with oil industry participation, was withheld from the general public until just before the hearing.

The Honolulu Advertiser ran a story on Rep. Bev Harbin's ethics and federal complaints today on page B6. The reporter, Derrick DePledge, sought out comment and was able to latch onto Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro:

Forman, the HMSA Foundation, the HMSA and Herkes were not available for comment late yesterday afternoon.

State House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), said the intern program has been mutually beneficial because it gives lawmakers access to talented professionals and the interns a better understanding of how the Legislature works. He cautioned Harbin against making such serious accusations without more specific evidence.

Rep. Oshiro seems to be under the impression that these "interns" spend their employer's valuable time and money at the legislature to gain a "better understanding of how the Legislature works." HMSA and HECO have had a long string of "interns" embedded at the legislature and should by now have figured out how it works. The result of Rep. Herke's efforts is that we no longer have health insurance rate regulation, hardly a "mutually beneficial" outcome. In fact, it should be reason for the House leadership to remove him as the chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, which after all, should be protecting consumers and not health insurers.

Rep. Herkes himself, confronted with his amendments to health bills and his harboring of an intern from HMSA Foundation, has said in a KITV interview that responsibility for the language that killed health insurance rate regulation belongs to HMSA's registered lobbyist, Jennifer Diesman. Pacific Business news credits the language to Kaiser. It seems that Herkes has no trouble getting "access to talented professionals" at least when they stand to benefit from his efforts.

It's a pity that the House remains so arrogantly detached from its own undemocratic behavior this past session. Cleaning House should become a priority for the leadership. Why? Well, most people participate in the democratic process only when they vote, so if they are dissatisfied with their health premiums, for example, most likely they will only speak out at the ballot box.

That may not be a bad thing.


Update: Rep. Bev Harbin has responded to the Advertiser article. Read her response here. Rep. Harbin shows she is not afraid to speak truth to power. Read it, it's quite good.

Her ethics complaint against HMSA Foundation is here.
Her ethics complaint against Mark Forman is here.
Her IRS complaint is here.
Her request for an advisory opinion is here.

Representative Bev Harbin announced today that she has filed two complaints against HMSA Foundation and its Executive Administrator, Mark Forman, for failure to file lobbyist registrations.

One complaint was filed with the state Ethics Commission and another with the federal IRS, which through its Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division regulates the activities of non-profit corporations.

In her statement, Rep. Harbin wrote:

I continue to be amazed by the hubris of the HMSA Foundation and their parent company HMSA. Even after a loud public outcry and significant media coverage, HMSA continued to maintain this embedded lobbyist on staff with the powerful House CPC Committee. It became abundantly clear that the sole purpose of placing such a high-level employee in this important position was to protect the interests of HMSA as the prevailing health care provider in the State of Hawaii.

This is the first complaint filed with the IRS concerning the practice of corporations placing their paid executives or employees as "embedded interns" in offices of Hawaii state legislators, a practice which raises clear questions of access if not influence over the decisions made by powerful committee chairs. In the case of Mark Forman, he is embedded in the office of Big Island Representative Bob Herkes, chair of the House Consumer Protection & Commerce Committee.

During this just-completed legislative session, the CPC chair altered legislation passing through his committee so as to change a simple bill that would have continued rate regulation of health insurance premiums into a complex nightmare that clearly favored the interests of the insurance carriers. Most of the language was removed when the bill passed through the next House committee, but a House-Senate conference committee (to which Rep. Herkes was appointed) could not agree on a final version, and when Senator Ron Menor re-committed the bill to conference, the House refused, thereby killing the bill and removing the Insurance Commissioner's ability to review health care premiums.

A companion House bill which would also have simply removed the sunset provision of the existing law (and so continued oversight of premiums) was denied a hearing in the House.

Rep. Harbin called attention to the effect that this legislative-industry collaboration may have on employers and employees:

...The Chair of the CPC committee unilaterally killed Hawaii’s Health Care Rate Regulation--the only independent oversight mechanism then in place to protect Hawaii’s small businesses and their employees from predatory and discriminatory pricing of health care premiums and co-pays for drugs and services.

...As the prevailing health plan, without oversight HMSA now has the ability to raise premiums to such a level that employers will be hard-pressed to raise wages accordingly. HMSA also has the ability to temporarily lower prices to such levels as to thwart any competition wishing to do business in the Hawaii market.... The decision of House Leadership to allow this blatant internal control of the CPC Committee and to affect legislation that could enrich HMSA is unconscionable.

With regard to her IRS complaint, Rep. Harbin wrote:

I trust the IRS will take immediate action against this arrogant disregard of IRS regulations prohibiting such blatent political intervention in the legislative process.

Apparently the governor blasted "embedded lobbyists" (remember: you heard that term first right here!) at a news conference, which gave me my six seconds of fame on KITV this evening. Reporter Denby Fawcett interviewed me on this issue.

I learned from her that a resolution, SR168, was introduced by Sen. Bunda to change Senate rules so that embedded corporate lobbyists would no longer be allowed. Unfortunately, the resolution wasn't adopted.

Elsewhere in the story, KITV credited responsibility for the language that killed health insurance rate regulation for all of us (and we'll pay dearly for that) to HMSA's registered lobbyist, Jennifer Diesman. Pacific Business news credits the poison pill to Kaiser:

The bill died because House and Senate lawmakers couldn't agree on amendments drafted by Kaiser Permanente Hawaii that would have made it harder for the state to deny insurers' rate proposals, according to state insurance commissioner J.P. Schmidt.

Whichever, it appears that Rep. Herkes was bent on changing the law to favor the insurance industry.

Maybe he was just thanking them for loaning him their corporate executive.

And so insurance rate regulation died, because the Senate was having none of Herke's language and didn't agree to the loaded bill. Senator Menor, who introduced one of the bills to simply remove the sunset provision of the existing law (and thus make rate regulation permanent) valiently tried to save the day by recommitting the poisoned bill to conference committee where it could be sanitized. But House leadership didn't agree, and so the bill died.

Employers will certainly pay for this if insurance premiums climb like uncapped gas prices. So will individuals who pay premiums to cover their families.

Herkes comes to us from the Big Island, so all I can hope for is that they remember who to thank as their pockets are being picked by already fat monopolistic health insurers. Neighbor Island residents get inferior service too, there are shortages in key medical specialties. Perhaps they will show their appreciation at the voting booth.

Let's keep the pressure on, and perhaps a rule to prevent corporate lobbyists can be put into effect in the next session.

After a satellite signal to Hawaii totally disappeared, the `Olelo crew has switched their equipment to pick up this popular program from a different satellite. After a week's absence it returned to the TV screen this morning.

Here's the broadcast schedule. Best to check with the stations if you can't find the program at the times below:

Oahu Olelo
7am on Ch 53
10pm on Ch 56


Honolulu KTUH 90.3 FM
9 a.m., 7 p.m., Mondays


Kahului, Maui Akaku
Ch. 54 6 p.m., M-Th & 1 p.m. Fridays


Kaua'i,Hanalei KKCR, 90.9, 91.9 FM
11AM M-F

Each day's program is also available as a podcast or streaming on the web at democracynow.org.

Act 203, as the Star-Bulletin has noted this week in an editorial and an article, limits campaign contributions that corporations can give to so little that legislators will have to pay attention to us voters again:

"The total amount a corporation or other entity can give is $1,000 in the primary and then another $1,000 in the general election," Wong told the Star-Bulletin's Richard Borreca.

True, before the law became effective, corporations stoked up their funds with "old money" which can legally still be spent, so the effect will be delayed a couple of years while this largess is dribbled out to lawmakers.

As they do so, data is being collected. It takes time to sort through the databases to find who is getting paid off by whom, but just to let legislators know that they are being watched, a letter, with attached data, was delivered to all legislators on May 4. The data is quite raw, but if they look at it, they don't have to read between the lines at all. It's dumbed down. They know they are being watched.

It's something like firing a shot across the bow of the ship of state. A warning shot to let them know that we the people plan to keep our government sailing on an even keel. It mustn't be drawn off course by the siren call of corporate donations.

These huge payoffs are no less than corporate bribes. We see the effects each session. Between the money handed out and the corporate interns infesting legislative offices, it's always surprised me that in fact some very good legislation manages to squeeze through.

But just imagine that corporate influence could be reduced or eliminated (as for example if we had Voter Owned Elections) and Hawaii is truly governed for the first time by its own people.

Isn't that a worthy objective? There are now citizens groups working to achieve it here in Hawaii. Join up with one of them and let your representatives know that you vote, and that they work for you, not for the giant corporations whose campaign money will soon dribble away.

In an email widely circulated on May 4, 2006, Big Island activist Jack Kelly said that he had filed a complaint with the City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu charging that Speaker of the House Calvin Say has lived at a residence in Makiki, House District 26, for the past 15 years with his wife and two sons although he represents Palolo, House District 20.

The text of the complaint, also circulating via email, is here (pdf).

Although Kelly states “Continuing to serve in office may render any bill now being considered void and invalid," it's not clear what the consequences of these charges, if proven, would be. Does Kelly have standing to bring the charges? Will they be investigated as he requests?

If true, would Say merely have to move back to Palolo? Would he be charged with some crime? Would he lose his seat?

Stay tuned, but I think it's too early to get excited.

Both the Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin ran stories today lamenting the failure of the House and Senate to agree on a bill that was originally written to remove the sunset provision of the rate oversight law and so continue the Insurance Commissioner's oversight.

Both papers failed to explain why the Senate could not agree with the mangled version of the bill that the House conjured up in an insurance industry-backed effort to defeat the state's regulation of its monopoly business.

It's been no secret. Today is May 4, but The Pacific Business News reported in an April 14 story, Bill could dilute oversight on health insurance rates, that

The proposed amendments to the law make it harder for the state to deny insurers' rate proposals and would likely result in higher premiums for businesses, said state Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt.

"The amendments make rate regulation ineffective -- it makes it harder to rein in excessive prices," he said. "And with no competitive market, health insurance premiums may continue to rise for businesses and individuals."

The law that took effect in January 2003 gave the commissioner broad power to deny proposed rate hikes that he considers either excessive, discriminatory or detrimental to businesses and consumers.

The Insurance Commissioner warned clearly at that time that business and consumers would suffer with the House amendments.

Heck, even the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin and their employees will suffer increased costs if rates are allowed to rise unchecked. Maybe they should have followed the example of the Pacific Business News and reported the background to this story. It's been out there on the blogosphere and in PBN for some time.

Had the dailies done their job, they would have reported, as did Pacific Business News reporter Kristen Consillio, that

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii lobbyist Chris Pablo acknowledged that he drafted the amendments to the bill and circulated them among other health plans, like the Hawaii Medical Service Association, to enlist their support.

Who let the foxes into the henhouse? Rep. Bob Herkes introduced this industry-written amendment. This is the same Bob Herkes who harbors Mark Forman, Executive Administrator of HMSA Foundation as an "intern" in his office. The language was introduced as HD2 after hearing public testimony on the HD1, but of course, it was a pre-arranged trick. The new language was so biased toward the industry that it was mostly removed by the subsequent committee, but what remained of it essentially destroys the Commissioners ability to oversee rates.

Senator Ron Menor asked to reconvene the conference committee to save rate regulation, but the House would not agree.

At the start of the session the House also refused to hear its own version of the bill, leaving only the Senate version alive. Subsequently, Rep. Herkes was allowed to enlist industry help in destroying the original bill.

Both House and Senate versions were initially very simple, short bills that simply removed the sunset provisions of the law.

The papers might look into the reasons why House leadership seems to favor the insurance industry over consumers. Bob Herkes could not have done this alone.

If Big Island voters find their insurance premiums skyrocketing, perhaps they will express themselves at the ballot box by sending someone to the legislature who looks out for their interests instead of the interests of large corporations.

Update: in a story posted Wednesday to their website, Health insurance regulation bill dies, PBN correctly reports the reason the bill died:

The bill died because House and Senate lawmakers couldn't agree on amendments drafted by Kaiser Permanente Hawaii that would have made it harder for the state to deny insurers' rate proposals, according to the state insurance commissioner.

It's too bad the daily papers won't dig as deeply as PBN has done on this important story. Again, Big Island voters, it's your guy's fine work that made it possible for the health insurance companies to write their own legislation.

A rare and remarkable thing seems to have happened today--the Senate recommitted SB2917 to conference committee so that health insurance rate regulation might continue. Thanks to Sen. Menor and the others who spoke on this important issue.

The House, however, has so far not agreed. If they do nothing, the sunset provision of the original law cuts in, and guess what--no more rate regulation.

As I mentioned in previous posts, loss of rate regulation will mean a return to the bad old days when HMSA and Kaiser set rates any way they pleased. The losers will be small business and their employees, who will have to pay more for coverage. Employees often pay the premiums for their families.

Will House leadership actually let insurance rate regulation lapse in an election year? They might... so it's time to get on the horn and tell them they shouldn't take that risk.

Call your state representatives now or pay higher premiums later. Ask them to simply remove the sunset provision from the insurance premium rate regulation law by fixing SB2917 to eliminate all the industry-favorable language. Another place to call is Speaker Calvin Say's office: 586-6100 or email repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov . You can also email all representatives at reps@capitol.hawaii.gov .

Health care premium regulation has worked well for Hawaii small business owners and for their employees, who often pay the premiums to cover their families. The Insurance Commissioner has kept rate increases to the bare minimum that the insurance companies can justify. He also prevents HMSA and Kaiser from lowering rates artificially in order to drive out competitors.

All this is about to end. Premiums will be, like gasoline prices, whatever the companies decide they should be.

Yes, unless the House agrees to fix the mess they've created with SB2917, regulation of health care premiums in Hawaii will be confounded by language drawn up by the industry itself for its own benefit which was helpfully inserted into the bill by Rep. Bob Herkes and supported by House leadership.

All that was needed was to remove the sunset provision from the law that allows the Insurance Commissioner to regulate rates. Herkes inserted language that was written, according to a Pacific Business News article Bill could dilute oversight on health insurance rates, by the insurance industry itself. The resultant bill was passed by a conference committee on which Herkes sat. Herkes has an "intern" working in his office placed there by HMSA Foundation. You figure out whose side he is on.

Thursday is the last day this can be fixed. Either call your state representatives or pay higher premiums later. Ask them to simply remove the sunset provision from the insurance premium rate regulation law by fixing SB2917 to eliminate all the industry-favorable language. Another place to call is Speaker Calvin Say's office: 586-6100 or email repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov . You can also email all representatives at reps@capitol.hawaii.gov .

So call now or pay later.

After the city evicted about 200 homeless citizens of Hawaii from Ala Moana Park in the pouring rain so it could be cleaned up for a tourist festival, Mayor Mufi Hannemann's press secretary tried today to put an unconvincing spin on it-- that it was done to encourage the state to address the homelessness issue.

Today's Star-Bulletin story City had no heart for homeless, gov says carries this amazing statement from the city:

On the same day the state opened a temporary shelter in Kakaako for the homeless who were displaced from the park, the governor criticized the city for not doing enough to help the homeless after they were evicted from Ala Moana.

"I think it should've been done in a different way," Lingle told reporters yesterday.

Bill Brennan, the mayor's press secretary, noted that had the city not closed the park at night, the state might never have stepped up to address homelessness in Hawaii.

"You can see by the fact that the state went into action after the Ala Moana Park closure that they can and they have the expertise and the resources to provide shelter for the homeless," Brennan said.

The city began closing the park at night on March 27, moving out about 200 homeless people. City officials said the park needed to be closed at night to prepare for a major renovation of park facilities, which occurred last week.

Let's face it--what the state has provided, and thank goodness someone did come forward as the resources of the churches came to an end--is a warehouse.

Yes, Governor Lingle is now warehousing the homeless in Hawaii.

This is 'way better than a park--after all, there is a roof, there are toilets and today's Advertiser story State helps homeless take the 'Next Step' describes plans for walls and improvements to the facility. It also describes the city's failure to plan for these people when it announced its intention to close Ala Moana Park:

LINGLE CHIDES CITY

Lingle followed up yesterday's announcement by chastising top-level officials in Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration, saying they had not done enough to help homeless people after the closure of Ala Moana Beach Park.

"I think it should have been done in a different way," she said, adding that the city should have spoken to state officials and service providers to assess the effect of the park closure.

The governor, a former mayor of Maui County, also said homelessness is a local issue that should be dealt with by the counties.

Bill Brennan, a spokesman for Hannemann, said service providers were notified about the city's decision.

As for Lingle's assertion that homelessness is a local issue, Brennan said the city does not have health and social services or housing agencies like the state's.

"So it makes sense for the state to address the homeless issue since the state is the entity best equipped to deal with it," he said.

Yes, service providers were notified, and universally, they condemned the action.

This is an important band aid, put together hastily with the hard work of many state employees. But it isn't a lasting solution to relieving the pressures of homelessness in Hawaii. The governor needs to say a lot more.

Mayor Hannemann could start by saying a little himself.

After their summary eviction from Ala Moana park, the houseless people moved next door to City Hall and held signs of protest. They and their support organizations, including the churches who reacted much more quickly than the governor did to provide stopgap shelters, deserve the credit for raising public consciousness on this unacceptable situation.

While having protesters on the City Hall lawn may have embarrassed the Mayor, keeping people in a warehouse will prove to be an embarrassment for the governor if more permanent solutions are not developed and announced very soon. It's one thing to provide emergency shelters and another thing to solve the problems that result in homelessness in the first place.

Both the mayor and the governor should be announcing plans, complete with timeliness, details, budgets, and measurable outcomes, that will solve Hawaii's chronic problems with regard for shelter for all of its citizens.

As to the mayor's statements in both of today's papers, I guess we have to chalk it up to another failure. Green waste, urban planning, and now shelter for the homeless--this city administration needs to do more than take giant steps backwards.

What do you think of allowing your representatives to accept any amount of corporate money that an oil, tobacco, insurance or other company thinks they should have? Will they remain your representatives any longer if that is allowed?

In an election year, and in the face of mounting criticism of the role of corporate influence on legislative decisionmaking, the emergence of this bill from conference committee is a giant step in the wrong direction. Not only will it undermine public confidence in the legislative process, it could backfire on incumbents in the November elections.

SB2922 CD1, to be voted on tomorrow, May 2, would allow any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, or organization to transfer an unlimited amount of money from its own funds to its respective noncandidate committee in an election period. There's a current limit of $1,000, but this bill would remove any limit on corporate donations.

But guess what--you, a constituent, could only give $2,000 to a political action committee, while a corporation could give millions.

If signed into law, this bill will enable corporations to buy red carpets into our legislator's offices, while ordinary citizens will be put on hold.

While you still have some influence, call, fax or email your legislators and ask them not to pass SB2922. You can email all representatives at reps@capitol.hawaii.gov and all senators at sens@capitol.hawaii.gov .