Hawaii House speaker favors tough penalties to deter bribery
HONOLULU (AP) — The speaker of Hawaii’s House of Representatives said Wednesday he supports stronger ethics laws and penalties to prevent bribery at the Legislature after federal prosecutors this week alleged two former lawmakers took bribes in exchange for shaping legislation while in office.
“I’m not sure how much worse it could get. This is quid pro quo public corruption. This is really bad,” Speaker Scott Saiki told reporters.
He said he doesn’t believe bribery is widespread among lawmakers.
