Democracy dies in darkness: So much for transparency. Legislative leaders are already going behind closed doors to talk about the biggest issue of the session — the Maui wildfires and what the cost to the taxpayers might be for the island’s recovery.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz has called a meeting of his Ways and Means Committee for Friday at 10 a.m. that includes officials from three key state agencies who will discuss what the administration is doing to support Maui and what “the incurred and anticipated costs” for that support will be. Other senators can come and watch if they want.

But not the public. The Sunshine Blog asked Senate leadership why the meeting is closed but, as has become the norm with the Senate, no one is talking, not even a call back.

Here’s what we know from an email that was sent to numerous senators and staff.

Dela Cruz wants to hear from the Department of Budget and Finance, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the state Department of Defense about state spending on the Maui wildfire disaster. Of particular interest is what’s known as the Major Disaster Fund — the MDF.

Readers of The Blog might recall that the Green administration told department heads in late October that he planned to divert $164 million from B&F to Maui wildfire recovery efforts. Add in another $30 million given to Green by the Legislature last year and another $5 million appropriated for the MDF and the total in the fund comes to $199 million.

The meeting is raising eyebrows at the State Capitol where veteran government observers says it’s very unusual. They think Dela Cruz is trying to get a grasp on how much state money will be left for the Legislature to spend on other things, and how much the state may still be on the hook for Maui recovery.

So what’s the big secret in that? We think that’s exactly the kind of thing the public wants to know too. Where is our money going and what is being short-changed this year as the dollars flow to Maui?

The Blog asked the governor’s office Thursday what he thinks about holding a secret meeting on state budget considerations. We also asked for copies of whatever the agencies share with WAM. Here’s a statement from Gov. Josh Green’s office:

“During session, our administration does its best to be responsive to legislators whenever asked for information to help them make decisions. It’s important to us to have open lines of communication, especially around top priorities like Maui wildfires.”

“When, where and how they request that information is within their purview and internal rules and policies. We do not comment on House or Senate internal processes.”

So no help there. Sheesh.

Here’s what Senate rules say about private committee meetings. “Meetings, including decision-making sessions, of leadership committees appointed by the President, and Standing Committees shall be public provided that meetings in executive session may be allowed in such exceptional circumstances when committee discussion could unfairly damage the reputation of individuals or where there is a legal question concerning a bill.” (Italics by The Blog.)

The secret meetup comes in advance of WAM holding a public informational briefing Tuesday on Maui recovery and rebuilding and a public hearing Wednesday on a bill to exceed the state budget’s general fund expenditure ceiling due to the wildfires.

DDC v. ADC: A cloud is lingering over the Agribusiness Development Corp.’s hiring of executive director Wendy Gady last year, a closed-door process that has attracted the ire of — wait for it — Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz!

Longtime — but possibly former — ADC ally Dela Cruz filed an Office of Information Practices complaint against the corporation in January, after the Board of Directors didn’t hand him a fully unredacted record of Gady’s hiring process late last year.

The board was unable to gather enough votes to dismiss Dela Cruz’s quibble on Thursday, which it failed to do in January, too. So the Senate Ways and Means chair’s complaint remains in limbo.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by The Public First Law Center is still in play.

Some directors still appear to see a silver lining, and they are happy with Gady’s progress.

Board member Jason Okuhama, an agricultural finance specialist, lauded Gady’s work to “clean up” the organization before going into executive session on Thursday, while board vice-chair Lyle Tabata said he was “totally stoked” about the ADC’s direction.