Capitol offenses: The Sunshine Blog has been eagerly anticipating the start of the 2026 legislative session, set to begin Wednesday. So much intrigue this year, what with the pressure on legislative leaders, the state attorney general and the governor to do something about the mysterious legislator who in 2022 the FBI recorded taking $35,000 possibly as a bribe.

But the real talk of the pre-game festivities last week was what the heck was up with the fire alarm system at the State Capitol. It kept going off for days. The repeated and annoying alarms interrupted many budget and informational briefings with flashing lights, loud beeps and a voice telling everyone to evacuate the building. Until a real person came on to announce that the alarms were false.

Good thing. The elevators were out (again) too as the alarms were advising everyone to get out. The Blog has been a victim of slow elevators and worse enough times over the years to testify that the stairs are a much better option in times of crisis. Or if you need to get to a hearing on time.

Comptroller Keith Regan of the state Department of Accounting and General Services, which maintains the historic structure, says the trouble with the alarm system was all because of faulty sensors, which have now been replaced by contractor Kinetix.

“The building is half-a-century old, and there will be issues from time to time. DAGS has a long-term plan to address the overall care and upgrading of the building,” Regan said in a statement to the media.

That upgrading includes the reflecting pools (a project that has gone up in price again and is taking longer than scheduled — what a shock!) and fixing the AC system (the chamber level is now chillier then ever).

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Ignorance is bliss: The Blog is wondering how long legislative leaders and top state officials can continue to ignore the increasing calls for a state-level investigation into the aforementioned potential bribe that occurred a few years ago but has only recently come to light. It really has become the biggest political hot potato we’ve seen in awhile.

Now that Alexander Silvert, the former federal public defender who helped bring down a corrupt Honolulu police chief, has filed his petition urging the Legislature to create an investigative committee — with subpoena power — to ferret out the wrongdoer, the ball is in the Legislature’s court. The petition is expected to come up for a vote in the first few days of session this week.

Any notion of the Legislature investigating one of its own will undoubtedly be killed immediately, thanks to the cover provided by Attorney General Anne Lopez, who has insisted a state probe would interfere with the federal investigation that has dragged on for three years. The Blog is wondering if any lawmaker will vote in favor, which could be an easy political vote in an election year knowing leadership wants this all to go away and will make that happen.

Still, in a Legislature heavily populated by Democrats, you’d think they’d pay at least a little bit of attention to their own party’s guidance. Last week, the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi adopted a number of resolutions including “calling on the Hawaii State Legislature to investigate allegations involving an unknown state legislator referenced in federal court filings.”

But as Civil Beat has reported, being a Democrat in Hawaiʻi is really about being able to put a D next to their name on the ballot come election time rather then adhering to a party platform.

Silvert’s petition contains nearly 1,000 signatures of Hawaiʻi residents backing his play.

And at least one neighborhood board has also voted in support of a resolution urging the Legislature to investigate the money in the paper bag. Pointing out the obvious, the Kailua Neighborhood Board noted in its resolution: “the strength and stability of democratic government rely on public trust in governmental institutions and officers to act with prudence, integrity, and sound ethical judgment;” and “the loss of public trust in governmental institutions and their officers poses a serious threat to democratic governance” and “transparency in governmental actions and the conduct of public officials fosters true democracy and adherence to the rule of law.”

Is any lawmaker actually listening to the people?

Checks, please: And in other pre-session business some lawmakers were scrambling to hold campaign fundraisers in the past few days and weeks because they can’t hold organized money hauls while legislators consider all those bills of special interest to special interests.

Among those who were scheduled to hold a fundraiser (as of Friday) were Rachele Lamosao, who was just appointed to fill Henry Aquino’s state Senate seat. House Rep. Daniel Holt was set to do the same for his bid to win the seat of Sen. Karl Rhoads, who is retiring this year.

Other incumbents who said they would hold fundraisers included Senate President Ron Kouchi, who is up for reelection this year, and Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani, who is not up until 2028. Rep. Kyle Yamashita, a House veteran, also filed to raise money last month, as did Rep. Joe Gedeon, a House newbie.

In related news, Gov. Josh Green and Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke each were scheduled to hold their second fundraiser of the new year last week. So far, there are no declared Democratic Party primary opponents for the gov or LG.

Filling the pukas: Speaking of the governor, he made two important appointments last week that people should be paying attention to. Jon Itomura was named to serve as chair of the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission, while Daisy Hartsfield is the new state representative for House District 36 (Waipahu and Village Park).

Itomura replaces Leo Asuncion as chair on the three-member commission. Asuncion left in November, about seven months before his six-year term was to expire at the end of June. No explanation was given, but things, as Civil Beat has reported, have been a bit bumpy at the PUC under his tenure.

Itomura’s appointment awaits state Senate confirmation.

From 2003 to 2019, Itomura served as supervising attorney for the Division of Consumer Advocacy within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, where he represented Hawaiʻi’s ratepayers in all matters before the Public Utilities Commission. That’s according to a press release from the Green administration.

Itomura previously served as a deputy attorney general and as general counsel for the Campaign Spending Commission.

Hartsfield replaces Rachele Lamosao, who Green recently picked to fill another puka, this one the Senate seat for District 19 (Pearl City, Waipahu, West Loch Estates, Honouliuli, Ho‘opili). According to an administration press release, Hartsfield “brings more than 20 years of experience in public service, with a career spanning child welfare, public safety and the justice system.”

The Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi selected the names of Hartsfield and two other candidates for Green’s consideration, but not before working through some challenges involving other candidates who did not make the final cut.

And good luck to Barbara Dalton, a former postmaster in the Kaʻū area, who Senate President Ron Kouchi has appointed to serve on the beleaguered Hawaiʻi Elections Commission. Civil Beat has written much about the troubles and tribulations of the nine-member board where, to put it mildly, there has been a lot of turnover in recent years. Kinda hard getting unpaid volunteers to sit through endless public meetings and getting heckled by testifiers screaming about “election integrity.”

Dalton is filling one of two Hawaiʻi County seats on the commission.

Not so fast: And speaking of Hawaiʻi elections turmoil, the Hawaiʻi Office of Elections has taken a lot of heat over the past few years, mainly because some think there is something fishy about the way we conduct our elections.

Some in Washington, D.C., apparently think so too. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice included Hawaiʻi in its list of 18 states — all blue, of course — where it’s trying to get sensitive personal information on all registered voters.

Chief Election Officer Scott Nago refused to release any such info, however. Just last week the ACLU National Voting Rights Project, Common Cause Hawaiʻi, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi and two local voters (one of them former Gov. Neil Abercrombie) filed a motion to intervene in what’s known as United States of America v. Nago.

The reason: The DOJ’s request “threatens voter privacy and could enable voter disenfranchisement,” according to a press release.

“The federal government has clearly signaled that this demand for data is about consolidating authoritarian power, not any legitimate government use,” said Emily Hill, ACLU Hawaiʻi senior staff attorney.

In related news, the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission earlier this month rejected 6-2 (Commissioner Kahiolani Papalimu was absent) a motion from Commissioner Ralph Cushnie to fire Nago. It also voted 6-2 to ask the auditors for Honolulu County, Maui County, Hawaiʻi County and Kauaʻi County to audit the 2024 election, which some members suggest was tampered with.

The recommendation came from State Auditor Les Kondo, who declined the commission’s request to do the audit himself, saying it was the purview of the counties. (Of note: the Elections Commission’s Jan. 7 meeting lasted over six hours — par for the course.)

And this just in: Native Hawaiian companies that have benefited from government contracts under the Small Business Administration’s so-called 8(a) program could be in for a tough go if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth isn’t just blowing smoke about stopping the flow of millions of dollars to 8(a) contractors who work for Department of Defense (as Hawaiian companies do).

Civil Beat’s Nick Grube has recently been reporting on the government investigation into the well-known Dawson company. The Blog wonders if Hegseth has been reading his stuff, which was co-published with ProPublica.

We are taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government—the 8(a) program. pic.twitter.com/c9iH8gcqG7

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) January 16, 2026