Rules for thee but not for me: The Sunshine Blog is thrilled to see that there seems to be lots of momentum again this year when it comes to efforts to hold lawmakers and state officials accountable.

The latest is a lawsuit filed late last week by a number of citizens from across the state who were unhappy with how House leaders went about putting in place the internal rules that govern their own actions — everything from how soon committees have to post testimony to how bills flow through the process to social media practices by lawmakers.

Prior to Opening Day on Jan. 15, advocates had been citing the Hawai‘i Constitution which they believe prohibits legislative committees — including the rules committees — from making decisions in secret. Some thought that the House speaker, Nadine Nakamura, was inclined to implement a new practice of openness when she asked all House members to submit their ideas for improving the rules.

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But when all was said and done, the House passed its rules in a public floor vote but only after the rules committee hashed them out behind closed doors.

Legal action filed by eight citizens (one of their attorneys is Lance Collins of Maui, who’s known to love a good-government squabble) say the rules action violates Article III of the state constitution.

“Despite the public meeting mandate being in the constitution since 1978, the House created a committee and made decisions out of public view and deprived the public of their right to know,” Collins said in a press release.

The lawsuit also could reach across the building to the Senate, which made no visible effort to spruce up its rules, let alone include the public in the discussion.

One of the plaintiffs, former state Sen. Laura Acasio, told The Blog that the Senate falls short on the mandate as well.

“I agree that its rules need improvement, particularly regarding public decision-making,” she said. “Both chambers are required to follow the Constitution, and this lawsuit seeks clarification from the courts on public decision-making with this recent House example, that both the House and Senate will ultimately be required to follow.”

Nakamura doesn’t seem too worried. “The House is confident that its rules comply with the Hawai‘i Constitution and is focused on the work of the House during the 33rd legislative session,” she said in a statement on Friday. “We continue to prioritize pressing matters, including addressing the disruption of federal funding, though the full extent of its impact on our state remains uncertain.”

Civil Beat, which reported diligently on concerns that Wendy Hensel had discriminated against a Black law professor at Georgia State University as well as a business professor at City University of New York, discovered that a contract with the executive search firm hired by UH allowed the private contractor to control what should have been public records and other information it collected about Hensel and other candidates.

A section of the contract specifically required the search firm, WittKieffer, to surface any allegations of harassment and discrimination against the job candidates. But when Civil Beat asked for the records generated under the contract we were told either that none existed or the records belonged to WittKieffer.

Records for thee but not for me: And speaking of the Senate, if you thought the Senate wasn’t paying attention to the public’s angst over government transparency, you’ll be happy to see Senate Bill 1255, which seeks to correct a situation that came to light late last year during the University of Hawai‘i’s search for a new president.

Senate Bill 1255, introduced by Sens. Donna Kim, Donovan Dela Cruz, Michelle Kidani (who are frequently the UH’s sharpest critics) and a few others, seeks to clarify that records created, received and maintained by contractors working on a job for the state are subject to public disclosure under the Uniform Information Practices Act (the state’s public records law).

The senators would give the Office of Information Practices the ability to investigate compliance and possible violations by contractors. And yes, there are penalties for wrongdoers.

Some previous UH contracts with executive search firms had specified that information collected in searches for high-level university officials had been subject to disclosure. But the recent contract with WittKieffer, a national search firm that specializes in academia, contained a special provision that sidestepped UIPA.

Now, Hensel has indicated she will launch a national search for a new university athletic director to replace Craig Angelos, who was canned by former President David Lassner on his own way out the door.

The Blog will be interested to see if Hensel is going to be hiring WittKieffer again (she had worked with the company when she was at Georgia State to hire a new law school dean) and if she’s paying attention to the influential senators who, by the way, have a lot of control over her budget and other initiatives.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday at 3 p.m. before the Senate Government Operations Committee. Get your testimony in!

The Green machine: Gov. Josh Green traipsed back to Washington, D.C., again last week to add his voice to the already loud chorus speaking out against President Donald Trump’s nomination to install Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Quick recap: Green, a doctor, doesn’t like RFK Jr.’s opposition to vaccines, among other things, especially the time RFK Jr. tried to subvert vaccinations in Samoa during a deadly measles outbreak.

At a press conference last week that also featured Hawai‘i Sen. Brian Schatz and about a dozen other senators and medical professionals brought together by Protect Our Care, an advocacy group, Green called Kennedy “the most dangerous nominee” for health secretary. Ever.

It was the governor’s second trip to D.C. in recent weeks to rail against RFK Jr., so The Blog asked the governor’s office how much these trips, which are considered official state business, are costing taxpayers. “We respectfully ask that you submit an information request,” Green’s press secretary Erika Engle, replied in an email. She helpfully provided a link to the site where we would file such a public records request.

On Thursday, The Blog (and presumably thousands of others) got a fundraising email from Green’s political campaign asking for donations to support his fight against Kennedy and his “efforts to protect public health and the safety of our children.”

So … official state business? Or political campaign? Or can it be both?

Shining star: And speaking of Brian Schatz, Hawai‘i’s senior senator has been named the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. In a press release, Schatz said the new role puts him in a better position to help strengthen U.S. diplomacy overseas.

That includes doling out money for humanitarian aid, global health support and economic and security assistance to people around the world.

Given the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda and the concerns raised about the president by U.S. allies, it seems Schatz might have an interesting job.

Leaking to the media: Civil Beat has a small office on the chamber level of the Hawai‘i State Capitol. Last weekend our next door neighbor, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, had to temporarily clear its Capitol bureau due to flooding that happened a couple months back.

Fortunately, Dan Nakaso, Andrew Gomes and the gang were allowed back in the office later in the week, with new tile replacing the moldy carpet and the damaged ceiling panels repaired.

Maintenance and repair is an ongoing challenge in a building that opened in 1969. The November rain that damaged the S-A offices caused leaking into seven or eight offices, common spaces and utility areas, according to the Department of Accounting and General Services.

DAGS controlled the leak by diverting water into containers, then drying, cleaning and replacing an electrical panel that shorted due to the leak within 48 hours. But water can still find its way into the basement parking area, as seen during and after the deluge Thursday.