House Bill 1245 has been introduced by Rep. Kaniela Ing to provide numerous measures for comprehensive lobbying reform in Hawai'i. Common Cause, a good government advocacy group, supports the bill. Sen. Les Ihara is pushing a similar bill through the Senate.
"I introduced this bill to increase transparency in our legislative process and ensure the public that we are indeed fighting for their interests," said Ing. The House bill seeks to increase disclosure requirements for lobbyists and their clients, require certain state employees to disclose contractual relationships with lobbyists, and require the state ethics commission to accept electronically filed documents.
