Part of a Hawaii legislator’s job is to attend the 60 days of floor sessions聽from January to mid-May.

That’s where lawmakers may vote on bills or resolutions, appointments, debate amendments, make speeches, or recognize groups or people.聽They aren鈥檛 supposed to miss these meetings unless they鈥檙e sick, unable to attend or excused by the leader of their respective chamber, according to聽 and rules.

Almost a third of lawmakers had perfect attendance during the session that adjourns Thursday, while five lawmakers missed at least 10 session days.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz was among the lawmakers who had perfect attendance this year. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat

Technically, former House Speaker Joe Souki had the worst attendance by far with 22 absences before he was forced out of his job early last month after admitting to sexually harassing women over the years at the Capitol.聽Rep. Troy Hashimoto, who replaced Souki, hasn鈥檛 missed a day since he started two weeks ago.

Other than Souki, leading the pack of no-shows was Rep. Chris Lee of Kailua, who missed 12 floor session days. Last year he missed five full days and was late once.

Lee, who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, said he was sick once and took several trips off-island to discuss energy and climate change matters. Collaborating with others is key to passing and implementing energy and climate-related measures, he said.

Unlike the Senate, which only counts a full missed session as an absence, the House differentiates between whether a representative missed a full session or the initial roll call.

Rep. Kaniela Ing, a Maui lawmaker running to represent urban Oahu in Congress, missed 10 floor sessions and was late six times this year. Last year he missed five floor sessions and was late twice.

As a neighbor island legislator, Ing said he sometimes needs to visit residents in his district, attend to work responsibilities and care for his often-sick 2-year-old son. He said being a legislator is about more than showing up to floor sessions, which don鈥檛 always entail casting votes.

On March 21, one of the days that Ing missed, he participated in an online Reddit AMA 鈥淎sk Me Anything鈥 on a progressive politics forum and solicited donations.

Twenty-two of the 76 legislators had perfect attendance this year. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat/2018

Rep. Beth Fukumoto, a Mililani representative who鈥檚 also running to represent urban Oahu in Congress, missed 10 floor sessions and was late once. Last year, she attended all floor sessions but was late once.

Fukumoto said half of her absences this year were family-related and required travel. The rest were either sick days or time spent traveling to Washington, D.C., prior to announcing her run for Congress.

Seventeen representatives had perfect attendance, including House Speaker Scott Saiki, Majority Leader Della Au Belatti, Finance Committee Chair Sylvia Luke, and Reps. Henry Aquino, Tom Brower, Richard Creagan, Ty Cullen, Aaron Ling Johanson, Bertrand Kobayashi, Lei Learmont, Dee Morikawa, Scott Nishimoto, Takashi Ohno, Gregg Takayama, Roy Takumi, Cynthia Thielen and Kyle Yamashita.

Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English of Maui had eight absences this year. He racked up 12 absences last year while traveling.

His district encompasses east and upcountry Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

English was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon. One of his staffers said most of the absences were a result of flooded roads in Hana, where English has a home.

English’s absences for Senate sessions were surpassed only by Sen. Breene Harimoto, who was gone for 20 days. Harimoto said those absences were related to chemotherapy treatments he receives for lung cancer.

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Donovan Dela Cruz and Sens. Will Espero, Donna Kim, Clarence Nishihara and Brian Taniguchi had perfect attendance.

Legislators are paid about $60,000 per year.

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