Hawaii Lawmakers Took $500k In Campaign Cash This Session Despite Pleas To Ban Campaign Cash During Session 0 Top brass at the Legislature have bolstered their reelection campaigns with money raised from lobbyists, labor unions and other groups while they make decisions on state policy.
Hawaii lawmakers accepted half-a-million dollars worth of campaign cash during the 2022 legislative session even as calls to end that practice went unheeded.
And that’s just a portion of the $7.8 million state politicians raked in during legislative sessions in the last decade from lobbyists, developers, labor unions and other special interest groups while making budget and policy decisions that could affect their interests, an analysis of campaign spending records shows.
Good-government groups and even a commission convened by state lawmakers to strengthen ethics laws have asked that the practice of accepting campaign contributions during session come to an end. The goal is to limit even the appearance of a pay-to-play culture that favors those who have money over those who do not.
