The Legislature has passed an important bill, making the shaka our official state gesture.

This is big news, as it’s the first state gesture in the country and possibly the world. So my congratulations to Hawaii innovator Steve Sue who headed this effort. It’s a nice thing, something to feel good about.

But the Legislature has given a different gesture to the people who expected and deserved some real ethics reform this year. It’s sometimes called the one-finger salute.

This became obvious as we saw pictures and heard speeches about the “historic” legislative session, and watched the Legislature’s leaders congratulate themselves on a job well done. We are thankful that Maui is getting the funding it needs. This was good work, but it is the bare minimum that we expected of the Legislature. And as they crow about their success, let’s remember it’s our money, not theirs. Using it as it should be used is not heroic, it’s just doing their job.

But after the profound corruption for which Hawaii politics has become deservedly famous, and the good work from the “ethics reform committee,” the Legislature again went 0-for-3 on the big three legislative ethics reforms: term limits, citizens initiative and public financing of elections.

Manini reforms have been passed, such as a law against nepotism in which the Legislature in its arrogance exempted itself. But I will not celebrate tiny reforms at the margins when the blatant core of corruption goes unaddressed. It’s as if we’re expecting important visitors so we sweep off the welcome mat, while filth is left in the bathroom, kitchen and living room. Who do they think they’re fooling?

And the stench of the corruption is not merely left over from envelopes of cash in the English/Cullen cases of a few years ago. Now the pay-to-play nature of Hawaii politics has found its way to the pages of the New York Times and national attention, thanks to the excellent reporting by Blaze Lovell and others here at Civil Beat.

We heard about cash donation parties in Honolulu and in Las Vegas, hosted by our legislative “leaders.” We see the systematic bundling of illegal campaign contributions. We see the web of corruption in city and state government that is so striking that the federal government has to police the Aloha State, in the absence of any concern from our leaders here.

After our legislators attend parties where envelopes of cash are given as party favors, who will these legislators be representing during the session? 

We watched legislators such as David Tarnas kill term limits without a vote last year. And shockingly, in the face of all this pay-to-play corruption in the news, Rep. Tarnas this year killed publicly financed elections, again without a vote and on the flimsiest of reasons.

Public financing of elections is so important and so relevant here, as it could finally cut down on the extent of pay-to-play. It’s been called the reform that makes all other reforms possible.

Surely there was plenty of money for public financing. We had enough money for a billion dollars for Maui, a billion-dollar-per-year tax cut and enhancing the rainy day fund. Publicly financed elections would only cost a small amount, and reduce this costly pay-to-play form of corruption.

If we had citizen’s initiative, we could pass term limits and public election financing. But we don’t have that option, and those who could enact these changes choose not to do so. We don’t get to vote on initiative and without it other reforms are blocked. See how this all works? We get the gesture, but no reform.

Let me share a true story from my time in the Legislature.

Toward the end of one session, a legislator took a quick weekend trip to Vegas during a very busy time at the Legislature. Left on Friday, back on Sunday. This rushed vacation was mystifying to me, naive as I was. They essentially have eight months of vacation each year, when leisurely mainland trips are possible and make sense.

Now we have learned about stacks of poker chips and other perks provided to legislators. Now I can understand why it was worth a three-day trip to Vegas, where almost anything goes. It appears that influence was urgently needed and there’s no place like Vegas for the shadiest of dealings.

This example illuminates the function of these Vegas trips. Sometimes scheduled cash parties in Honolulu are just not enough.

Why do we put up with such corruption? Why does it go unaddressed in the Legislature even in these times of exposed corruption in the headlines? Why don’t major ethics reforms pass?

I suspect it’s because the leaders of Hawaii politics want nothing to change. They are OK with the one-finger-salute to the voters, because they assume we won’t care enough to vote them out. I hope they’re wrong, because voting out some of these people would be a really nice gesture.