Okata says HGEA is not
opposed to opening its books

The state sues HGEA and UPW
to obtain their financial records

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

The head of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the state's largest public employees union, says he is not against opening up the books for an audit by the state Attorney General's Office.

Russell Okata's comments are in response to the state's filing a lawsuit stating that two public employee unions, HGEA and the United Public Workers Union, are not making their books and records available to investigators.

"I just wanted to make it abundantly clear," said the HGEA executive director yesterday, "that HGEA has instructed our insurance representatives, which is the Voluntary Employees Benefits Association of Hawaii, to cooperate with the comptroller to conduct an audit.

"If the state has a problem, it's not with the HGEA, but with our third-party administrator, VEBAH, and I think the suit didn't make that clear to the court."

In a 20-page complaint filed yesterday in state Circuit Court, Attorney General Earl Anzai said both the HGEA and UPW were stonewalling the state's efforts to conduct an audit of the unions' health and dental plans.

Okata said VEBAH has custody of all of the information regarding insurance health plans, premiums and union benefits paid.

"Unfortunately for me, because we're the beneficiary of the plan, the attorney general had to include us in the lawsuit," he said. Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones said UPW State Director Gary Rodrigues went so far as to suggest that state Comptroller Glenn Okimoto was "incompetent," and asked that the union be reimbursed for its cost for the audit.

UPW state Director Rodrigues could not be reached yesterday for comment about the lawsuit.