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Why is Hawaii’s attorney general fighting a new law — and now a court ruling — that would allow the public to track possible conflicts of interest among members of many of the state’s most powerful boards and commissions?

Financial information for board members is going to become public anyway the next time they file an annual report, so why is David Louie wasting taxpayer dollars to keep the records already on file secret?

In April, the Legislature unanimously agreed that the financial information of members of 15 important state boards should be released to the public. Those reports are required to be filed annually by board members and hundreds are already publicly available. The new law simply added more boards to the list of those whose reports are to be released.

In July, Gov. Neil Abercrombie let the measure become law without his signature after first indicating he would veto it. He never liked the idea and said so on numerous occasions.

More than two dozen board members resigned before the law took effect on July 8 rather than risk having their financial information — along with any conflicts of interest — become public.

Civil Beat asked for financial disclosure records for the remaining (and thus current) members of three key boards — the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, the Land Use Commission and Agribusiness Development Corporation Board of Directors.

But the Hawaii State Ethics Commission balked. The commission’s own staff recommended release of the documents, but commissioners listened instead to the state attorney general who decreed that only reports filed after July 8 needed to be made public.

Civil Beat took the matter to court and on Nov. 12 a state judge sided with us. Essentially, she ruled that the new law supersedes any prior confidentiality requirement. It’s unclear whether the financial disclosures of former board members could be public, but the commission is interpreting it to apply only to current board members.

Last week, AG Louie made a rare appearance at the ethics commission meeting to urge an appeal. The commission agreed to not stand in his way.

That means the information contained in those public records will continue to be locked up, likely for months to come.

Meanwhile, board members are meeting regularly and making policy decisions while the public is left wondering if they have any personal or financial relationships that might present a conflict.

The Legislature thought it was important that these boards operate with complete transparency.

One lawmaker in particular was outspoken in his support of the measure. That was David Ige, who on Dec. 1 will be sworn in as Hawaii’s next governor.

Ige was highly critical of Abercrombie’s opposition to extending the financial disclosure requirement to the 15 boards, which are among the most powerful in the state.

“I think it’s incredible that the governor is planning to veto a bill that increases government transparency and accountability and was unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate,” Ige said in a press release during the campaign. “The Legislature listened to the many citizens who want a more open government, and I call on the governor to do the same.”

“If I were governor, I would have signed this bill immediately because I believe in an open government that is held accountable and discourages conflicts of interest.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Ige should make good on that promise immediately. He needs to tell David Louie — or whoever becomes AG — to drop the appeal and release the records.  It’s a waste of taxpayer dollars and valuable court time to delay the inevitable.