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IN AND AROUND THE CAPITOL
Ige welcomes
Cayetano:Yap resisted changes By Bruce Dunford
investigation; Senate
president refuses
Associated PressState Sen. Marshall Ige says he would welcome a Senate investigation on the campaign spending violation charges brought against him in state court.
"My future is in the hands of the courts. I welcome any type of investigation. I have done nothing wrong and I'm looking forward to my trial and I believe I'll be exonerated," he said yesterday. "I have nothing to hide."
Common Cause Hawaii, a citizens lobby group, has called for the Senate investigation. Ige (D, Kaneohe-Maunawili-Enchanted Lake) is under indictment for six misdemeanor counts involving alleged campaign spending violations.
Senate President Norman Mizuguchi (D, Moanalua Valley-Aiea-Pearlridge), however, accused Common Cause of seeking to deny Ige his constitutional rights by calling for the Senate investigation.
Ige is "unqualifiedly entitled to freely defend the charges against him in court with not a taint of interference by the state Senate or a disgruntled citizen or organization," Mizuguchi said in a letter Monday to Common Cause.
"Your charges, merely mirroring official charges yet to be decided by a court, and your request for a Senate investigation preceding a judicial determination of charges suggest a serious lack of understanding of the wonderful protection afforded all citizens under our constitutions, both federal and state," Mizuguchi said.
Common Cause Executive Director Larry Meacham said he called for the Senate investigation after Mizuguchi refused to bar Ige from voting on the pending confirmation of Earl Anzai as attorney general.
Common Cause and the League of Women Voters had urged Mizuguchi to bar Ige from voting on Anzai's appointment because Anzai's office is prosecuting Ige on the campaign spending case.
Ige, who has declined to say if he'll vote on Anzai's appointment, said yesterday he'll announce his decision today on the Senate floor.
Anzai's appointment isn't expected to go to the 25-member Senate until next week.
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Cayetano says Yap
By Bruce Dunford
resisted changes in
appeals process
Associated PressGov. Ben Cayetano says he declined to reappoint Frank Yap Jr. as chairman of the state Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board because Yap resisted his administration's efforts to streamline the appeals process.
"He's kind of a key figure in some of the things we wanted to do and that's his right," Cayetano said. "I'm committed to change. I respect his position, but I would hope he would respect mine.
"I can't bring myself to reappoint someone to another 10 years who does not want to change anything," he said.
Cayetano last week named state Sen. Randy Iwase (D, Waipahu-Crestview-Mililani) to succeed Yap, raising questions of Iwase's qualifications and of complying with a state law that suggests that appeals board members not be replaced as long as the operations are efficient.
In this case, the decision not to reappoint Yap "speaks to efficiency of state government as a whole," Cayetano said.
Yap opposed the administration's proposals to consolidate the Labor and Industrial Relations Board with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board whose high-paid members handle only about 15 cases a year, the governor said.
Under the proposal, members of the consolidated board would serve as administrative judges to individually handle labor appeals, but without the support of Yap and other board members, organized labor resisted the bills, he said.
Cayetano said he had other reasons for not reappointing Yap but said he did not care to disclose them "at this time."
The governor said he decided to comment on his decision not to reappoint Yap because of comments made by Yap and state Sen. Marshall Ige (D, Kaneohe-Maunawili-Enchanted Lake) questioning his appointment of Iwase.
As for Iwase's qualification, he noted that Iwase was a key figure in drafting legislation to reform the state's workers' compensation system.
"There's a learning curve, clearly," Cayetano said. "But we're never limited to choosing from the (workers' compensation) industry."
Iwase has the support of both labor and the business community, he said.
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