1. Hawaii’s Voice for a Better Future
March 27, 2012
Sen. Shan Tsutsui, Senate President
Hawaii State Senate
--via email--
Subj: Complaint re conduct of confirmation hearing for Hawaii Health Connector appointees
A confirmation hearing for eleven gubernatorial nominees to the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health
Connector was held on Friday, March 23, 2012 before the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.
This complaint refers to the conduct of that hearing and requests corrective action by the Senate.
The Board of Kokua Council voted unanimously to communicate this complaint with regard to the process of
the CPN hearing to you and to the leadership of the Senate.
At that CPN hearing, many concerned citizens were present and waited to testify--the room was packed, with
many standing near the doors. I intended to testify on behalf of Kokua Council in opposition to the three
candidates employed by the major health insurers. Due to the conduct of the hearing chaired by Senator Rosalyn
Baker, I was denied the chance to give testimony on the first insurer nominee (GM624) and my testimony on
the second (after someone else spoke out of turn and confronted the Chair) was repeatedly interfered with.
Only testimony in opposition suffered these setbacks--other testimony was allowed to proceed without
interference.
Specifically, Sen. Baker stared at her computer screen and read off the list of written testimony received without
looking up. At the end she called the nominee to testify. The entire reading took almost exactly one minute.
After the nominee completed her testimony, a member of the audience raised her hand and spoke up. In
response, Sen. Baker stated that she expected the testifiers to stand on their testimony, and that she didn't see
anyone pop up. Of course, several of us had our hands up, but were not acknowledged and Sen. Baker wasn't
looking. Following this protest, testimony on subsequent nominees was permitted.
During my own testimony on GM625 I was repeatedly challenged by the Chair. As an example, when I
attempted to quote from the newspaper editorial I was told "that's not on the table." Of course, the nomination
was on the table, and had I been allowed to continue, the editorial presented information completely relevant to
the nomination under consideration. Sen. Baker also challenged the testimony of several subsequent testifiers
and even came to the defense of HMSA in reaction to Bev Harbin's testimony. Only opposition testimony was
met with these challenges and defenses.
Finally, despite the great public interest requiring the consideration of these particular nominees, the Chair
directed a vote for all of the nominees together, thereby rendering the opposition testimony moot.
Kokua Council c/o Harris United Methodist Church, 20 S. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu HI 96813, tel. 839-1545

2. The opposition testimony when finally allowed for subsequent nominees appeared well-founded, and given the
legislative events that took place just prior to the hearing (especially the just-released amendment to SB2434), it
was necessary that I and others be given the opportunity to present oral testimony to members of the
Committee.
The implications of this conduct go beyond the particular hearing and call into question the democratic process
as practiced at the Hawaii State Legislature. For whatever reason, the Governor chose to appoint, looking
specifically at the case of HMSA, the organization's chief lobbyist to the Board rather than someone else with
particular skills relevant to the provision of health care. HMSA and other insurers and lobbyists make
significant and regular contributions to the campaigns of Senator Baker and other members of the Hawaii
legislature, as do other corporations, organizations and wealthy individuals. Yet our system of democracy
demands that legislators represent not those who contribute most, but the voters and especially the constituents
of those serving in office. At the Friday hearing, ordinary citizens were denied their right to petition their
representatives on the Committee by providing information to committee members on how they wished the
Committee to vote.
At the same time, as my audio recording of the session demonstrates, the lobbyist-nominees were warmly
treated, well spoken of, and their testimony unimpeded.
Hawaii is the only state to have established its Connector board as an independent non-profit, not subject to
either the Sunshine Law nor the ethics law. Six states have laws in place prohibiting insurers on their boards
with another 15 considering similar legislation. Yet when I attempted to bring this to the attention of the
Committee, Senator Baker forbid me to quote the reference, which was contained in a Star-Bulletin editorial.
Certainly, this was and remains relevant and should have been permitted in testimony.
The Committee's appointment of health insurers to the board that will have such a great influence on the income
that they themselves ultimately derive from the rules and regulations that they will participate in creating
remains controversial. From Richard Borreca's column this morning:
Imagine if the state decided to set up a hamburger board that would proscribe how many and
which hamburgers you could eat.
If the board’s majority was made up of McDonald’s, Burger King and Jack in the Box, any
cheeseburger-loving soul would see that as a conflict. Especially if the burger boys set up the
ethics rules guiding how the burger commission operated.
Kokua Council requests that the Senate reconsider the nominees approved at the Friday CPN hearing and that it
bar Senator Baker from serving on a conference committee that may be convened to consider SB2434.
The reconsideration of the nominees would also demonstrate that the Senate recognizes the validity of public
opposition to the seating of cash-contributing lobbyists to this board. Taken together with the manner in which
they were approved, their confirmation would cast doubt on much more than what transpired in one hearing
room on Friday.
President, Kokua Council
Kokua Council c/o Harris United Methodist Church, 20 S. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu HI 96813, tel. 839-1545