At least six state board members have now submitted letters of resignation since the Hawaii Legislature unanimously passed a bill in April that expands the list of boards whose members must disclose their financial interests.
Three Land Use Commission members — Ernest Matsumura, Dennis Esaki and Sheldon Biga — have submitted letters of resignation, the governor’s office confirmed Thursday.
And a third person serving on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents submitted his resignation Thursday, but that member’s name isn’t being released yet because Gov. Neil Abercrombie has yet to see it, his office said.
The bill adds 15 boards and commissions to the list of those that already have to file public financial disclosure statements. Lawmakers have said the new requirement will help the public identify and raise concerns about possible conflicts of interest.
Earlier Thursday, Abercrombie issued a news release urging qualified individuals looking to serve the public to apply for state board or commission openings that will occur as the bill takes effect.
Here is the list of the 15 boards whose members will have to make their financial disclosure statements public:
UH Board of Regents
Board of Agriculture
State Ethics Commission
Hawaiian Homes Commission
Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation Board of Directors
Board of Land and Natural Resources
Land Use Commission
Legacy Land Conservation Commission
Natural Area Reserves System Commission
Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Board of Directors
Hawaii Public Housing Authority Board of Directors
Public Utilities Commission
Commission on Water Resource Management
Hawaii Community Development Authority
Agribusiness Development Corporation
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Nathan Eagle is a deputy editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at neagle@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nathaneagle, Facebook here and Instagram here.