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Capitol improvements, please: A hui of good government groups is urging major reforms at the Hawaii Legislature. In a letter delivered in person to House and Senate leadership this week, they called for three “critical” changes in the upcoming 2024 session:

• Pass the base state budget a month before the session concludes.
• Stop referring non-fiscal bills to the Finance or Ways and Means Committees.
• End the “cattle call” practice of last minute decision-making during the conference committee phase.

“In 2023 we watched with dismay as hundreds of budget and bill decisions were made with only hours to spare and $200 million was given to the governor to address the resulting errors and gaps in funding critical areas,” the letter states.

The need to change the way business is done at the State Capitol, the letter continues, is even more urgent because the 2024 session must also respond to the Maui wildfires.

The groups include Common Cause Hawaii, the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s education and labor caucuses, the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, Our Hawaii and Partners in Care.

Note to lawmakers: 2024 is an election year. Just sayin’.

Senators vs senator: More than half of Democrats in the U.S. Senate want New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez to resign following  accusing him of  “in exchange for wielding his political influence to secretly advance Egyptian interests and do favors for local businessmen,” as reported.

Those senators include Mazie Hirono who said over social media Wednesday, “As Senators, we serve in positions of public trust. While Senator Menendez is innocent until proven guilty, the heart of the allegations erodes public trust. As such, I believe he should step down.”

Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Dem, agrees, as does Menendez’s New Jersey colleague . Even Majority Leader Chuck Schumer now says, not long after Menendez told a court he’s not guilty, that by the charges.

So, where does Brian Schatz come down?

Here’s a very brief statement from his office: “Senator Schatz is a member of the Ethics Committee and therefore cannot comment on matters that may come before the committee.”

House concurrent resolution: It’s not a secret to folks who spend a lot of time at the Big Square Building on Beretania that Reps. Sonny Ganaden and Jeanne Kapela are a couple.

Now, thanks to Rep. Amy Perruso’s recent Instagram post, we see that they are expecting, too — in mid-November, we hear.

The photo was from a baby shower held with the support of colleagues Della Au Belatti, Linda Ichiyama, Darius Kila and others.

Ganaden represents District 30, which includes Kalihi on Oahu, while Kapela represents District 5, which includes Keaau, Mountain View and Hawaiian Ocean View on the Big Island.

It’s a short-distance relationship, one might say. They’re probably racking up some mileage.

Have gift, will travel: There are fresh and semi-fresh gift and travel disclosure filings from Hawaii officials, all posted on the website of the .

Don’t confuse these disclosures with legislative allowances, which is our money paying for trips and other things. This money comes from other sources but still amounts to freebies for our officials.

Here’s a few items that caught Your Sunshine Bloggers eye(s):

Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa took $500 from the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies to travel to speak at the APAICS Legislative Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., in May.

Sen. Glenn Wakai accepted $1,000 from the National Conference of State Legislatures for travel in June to Providence, Rhode Island, to attend an NCSL Military Task Force meeting.

Holly Shikada reported $36,857 from donors for air travel, hotels, meals, baggage and ground transportation when she was Hawaii attorney general in 2022. The trips were to South Korea, London, South Africa, Milwaukee, Sun Valley and Des Moines.

Shikada’s donors were the National Association of Attorneys General, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, and the Attorneys General Association. The disclosure from Shikada, Gov. David Ige’s last AG, was filed July 2 of this year.

And Rep. Kanani Souza reported gifts of banana bread ($5) from Art and Peggy Hannemann, a small box of cookies ($10) from Riyozo Ariyoshi, and a coffee assortment ($10) from Patty Kahanamoku Teruya.