It’s unusual to see a spat between legislative leaders on something so basic. But there it was on Wednesday, with House Speaker Scott Saiki announcing the reopening of the state Capitol building to the public on March 7, followed by a wait-a-minute response from Senate President Ron Kouchi.

The Senate wasn’t consulted, Kouchi said, adding that he had been working it out with the comptroller.

The people, meanwhile, hope the People’s House will reopen soon — and that the politicos patch things up, quickly, so to focus on doing the people’s business.

Bills targeting auditor go nowhere

The tug-of-war between state Auditor Les Kondo and state House leadership appears to have reached a conclusion with the death Wednesday of bills that would have required the auditor to disclose confidential “working papers” and require the following of “best auditing practices and standards.” We never really found out what a House Special Investigative Committee was investigating in two of Kondo’s audits — even after days of acerbic hearings and a trip to Circuit Court.

We can only hope that it’s over now.