When the Legislature in 2017 approved its second bailout for the Honolulu rail fiasco — this one for $2.4 billion in excise tax and hotel tax revenues — it came with strings attached.

Legislators wanted more oversight of rail and gave the House and Senate each the right to appoint two nonvoting members to the board of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation to act as watchdogs for lawmakers and the public.

HART is now thumbing its nose at the legislative oversight, and it cries for a strong response as the fumbling rail agency continues its old tricks of smothering dissent and ducking scrutiny.

Over objections of the state attorney general, HART adopted new rules that lock the legislative watchdogs out of some board deliberations, or muzzle them if they participate.

The rules require the House and Senate appointees to sign confidentiality agreements that threaten criminal penalties for disclosing information, which isn’t required of the city’s voting board members.

Natalie Iwasa, a certified public accountant and fraud examiner who was appointed by the House, refused to sign out of concern that an inadvertent misstep could cause her to lose her professional licenses.

In retaliation, Iwasa was barred from the board’s executive sessions, where most major decisions are made.

Beyond confidentiality, the new rules give HART the right to exclude legislative watchdogs “at any time if it does not further the interests of the board” — an in-your-face challenge to the oversight imposed by the Legislature.

The Attorney General’s Office took issue with the rules concocted by HART Chair Colleen Hanabusa and city attorneys, saying there’s “no legal authority” to treat legislative appointees differently from other board members.

House Speaker Scott Saiki, who chose Iwasa for her incisive critiques of rail financial management, wrote city attorneys that excluding legislative appointees unlawfully disrupts the transparency intended by the Legislature in the bailout.

The question becomes what the Legislature will do about it beyond writing letters.

Despite HART’s promises that the last bailout would be enough to finish the commuter line from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, the rail agency has run out of money again and is stalled well short of the city center, and spokesman Joey Manahan has said another legislative bailout will almost certainly be requested.

This is a really bad time for HART to put its reputation for untrustworthiness on brazen display by attempting once again to stifle openness and accountability.

The Legislature promised taxpayers greater transparency when it approved the unpopular bailout. It can’t now allow arrogant HART directors to unilaterally alter terms of the deal or use oversight as a wedge to force a bargain on its grievances over quorum requirements.

Enough games by a chronically dysfunctional agency that can’t even lay track properly and has lost all credibility.

Lawmakers should put HART on notice that they’ll push legislation to suspend rail payments from the excise and hotel taxes unless it complies with bailout terms and allows legislative watchdogs unfettered access to meetings and records as prescribed by the attorney general.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.