Rep. Sam Kong can often be found driving seniors to doctor’s appointments or the grocery store in his home district of Aiea. That’s when he’s not at the state Capitol debating thorny issues such as tax credits for businesses, pesticide regulations or whether Hawaii should allow gambling.
He says the conversations with his passengers make him a better legislator.
“Because I do that, I get to hear from them not as a legislator, but as a person,” he said. “They tell me how they really feel about what is happening in the community and they have a captured audience. It’s a good way to get insight that I wouldn’t normally get.”
Kong (D-Halawa, Aiea, Newtown), the owner and driver of a taxi cab company, is one of many of Hawaii’s 76 senators and representatives who earns a living outside of his legislative work. Hawaii is one of two dozen states that the National Conference of State Legislatures classifies as a “hybrid state,” where lawmakers usually don’t earn enough to make a living without an outside job.
Senators and representatives will see a slight bump in their pay this year to $60,180 annually, with House Speaker Joe Souki (D-Waihee-Waiehu, Wailuku) and Senate President Ron Kouchi (D-Kauai, Niihau) each earning an extra $7,500.
On Wednesday, the Legislature kicked off its 2016 session, scheduled to run through May 5. But many lawmakers say that they continue their work throughout the year, meeting with constituents and preparing for the next legislative session.
“It’s not like we can just take off from May and show up in December and be fine,” said Sen. Jill Tokuda (D-Kailua, Kaneohe), chairwoman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which oversees state financial policies. “It takes so much work to understand all these line items in the budget and the billions of dollars going through the departments.”
In the past, she has supplemented her income through her own consulting firm, Kalliope. Last year, she said she earned between $25,000 and $50,000. She has consulted for the Daniel K. Inouye Institute on educational issues but said she is no longer working for the organization.
A number of lawmakers, such as Rep. Sylvia Luke (D-Punchbowl, Pauoa, Nuuanu), Rep. Della Au Belatti (D-Moiliili, Makiki, Tantalus), Rep. Scott Saiki (D-Downtown, Kakaako, McCully) and Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D-Kalaeloa, Waianae, Makaha), earned income working as attorneys during the 2014 calendar year, according to the latest financial disclosure statements, which legislators are required to file every year with the state Ethics Commission. Disclosure statements covering the 2015 calendar year are expected to be filed in the coming weeks. The documents assist the Ethics Commission and public in catching potential conflicts of interest.
Working as an attorney or earning money from rental properties were the most common ways that lawmakers supplemented their income. But the financial documents show that overall Hawaii’s lawmakers work a diverse array of jobs.
The Legislature also includes farmers, university lecturers and professors, a doctor, real estate managers, financial consultants, a hula teacher and the owner of a car detailing company.
Sen. Russell Ruderman (D-Keaau, Pahoa, Kalapana) earns $1 million or more annually from his three natural food stores, according this his financial disclosure statements. The forms do not require that income above $1 million be further specified. Ruderman said he has staff to manage the stores, allowing him to spend most of his time in politics.
Sen. Josh Green (D-Naalehu, Kailua-Kona), a doctor, earned between $260,000 and $425,000 in 2014.
There are holes in Hawaii’s financial disclosure reporting. For instance, lawmakers working for consulting companies often don’t disclose their clients on their financial forms. Meanwhile, some lawmakers work for some of the major interests that lobby the Legislature.
Rep. Roy Takumi (D-Pearl City, Waipio, Pearl Harbor) earned between $25,000 and $50,000 in 2014 working as communications director for the AFL-CIO.
Sen. Brian Taniguchi, chairman of the Higher Education Committee, works as a policy specialist for the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Taniguchi (D-Makiki, Tantalus, Manoa) said he helps train the union on legislative and state budget processes and assists their political action committee.
He says he can’t recall a bill that came before him that might have benefited him personally, even though it may have benefited union members, which includes his wife.
Lawmakers say that if a bill would affect the financial interests of a class of people, even if it includes the lawmaker, legislators aren’t barred from voting.
For instance, Rep. Jimmy Tokioka has voted on many bills related to telecommunications, some of which were backed by his employer, Oceanic Time Warner Cable. But Tokioka (D-Wailua, Hanamaulu, Lihue), who earns between $50,000 and $100,000 a year as a new business manager for the company, says that he always declares the potential conflict of interest to the House speaker before voting and has never been told that it is indeed a conflict.
“I have never had a conflict because it doesn’t benefit me directly,” he said.
Tokioka says that he thinks his outside employment makes him a better legislator because he can understand what it’s really like for the business community. It also helps pay his children’s school tuition.
“They don’t take promises that I’ll pay them back later,” he said.
