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Show us the money: After much urging by advocates of transparency, the Legislature managed to finally post the legislative allowances of House and Senate members online last year.

The Sunshine Blog took a look at filed as of Dec. 1, starting with the House. They primarily cover September, October and November.

Most members spent money on basic expenses for their Capitol offices as well as constituent outreach: newsletter printing, postage, refreshments, business cards, Mailchimp subscriptions, town halls, listening tours and interisland travel for work.

Some of those expenses stood out for The Blog, in part for the novelty:

• spent $59 for a wagon to transport “material goods” between conference rooms during session;
• spent $209 for “hot water extraction” carpet cleaning as well as nearly 900 bucks for office furniture;
• spent $72 for a “clock to tell time in office” and refreshments for a town hall. UPDATE: After this story was published, House Communications provided receipts to show that the clock actually cost $11.87 from Walmart and that the $72 was used for the refreshments.
• spent $1,160 for “independent testing of samples for lead assessment due to Department of Health not testing the Marine Corps Pululoa Range & the Ewa communities concerns.” Yikes!

The largest expenses by far were for travel out of state. They include:

• spent $1,121 for airfare, ground transportation, lodging and meals in a site visit of the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in San Diego, Calif.
• spent $1,439 for travel, registration and lodging at the U.S. Japan Council 12th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.; $699 for airfare to Los Angeles for the Council of State Governments West Annual Conference; and $1,186 to lodge a Hawaiian Airlines delegation visit to Japan.
• spent $1,157 for the same CSG West Annual Conference.
• spent $1,284 for airfare, ground transportation and meals for the CSG Medicaid 101 Policy Academy in Alexandria, Virginia.
• spent $1,586 to fly to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana; and $1,415 to fly to the National Conference of State Legislatures 2023 Legislative Summit (also in Indy).
• spent $714 for an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Seattle and $609 for the APEC Conference in San Francisco. UPDATE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the trip was taken by Rachele Lamosao.

As of Dec. 1, none of the House reps appear to have used up the entire $15,952 allowance. Any allowance unused from a given year is lapsed — just like capital improvement projects at the Department of Education — and does not carry over to the next. But the new year brings each member another $15,952.

Some House members spent very little of their allowances, by the way, although they still have until opening day (Jan. 17) of the 2024 Legislature to make any final additions to their reports. , for instance, spent less than $100 and only for refreshments.

Separately, Belatti $2,650 in travel gifts to to attend the Milbank Fellows Program in Denver, Colorado.

Don’t show us the money: So, that takes care of the House allowances. What about ?

“We’re finalizing our legislative allowance reports with purchases made through the end of the year,” Senate Chief Clerk Carol Taniguchi told The Blog. “With the holiday and long weekend, we are running a little late in finalizing the data for the reports.”

Show us more money: The Honolulu City Council last month approved a half-dozen measures that will fork over more taxpayer money to lawyers. Cha-ching!

Two of the payments are tied to the ongoing dispute between the LGBTQ+-friendly Scarlet Honolulu and the Honolulu Liquor Commission (the agency has been accused of discriminatory behavior), something that Civil Beat has reported on.

Kobayashi Sugita and Goda was initially contracted by the city for $50,000. Expenses have piled up, however, and now the council has raised the amount .

Meanwhile, Fukunaga Matayoshi Ching and Kon-Herrera is being paid $74,000 to deal that links to Katherine Kealoha, the former deputy prosecutor now in federal prison, and Gerard Puana, the uncle she tried to frame.

There are also payments to involving the Honolulu Police Department and a Hawaii inmate in an Arizona prison, and for the tentative settlement reached in a lawsuit filed against the City and County of Honolulu by the family of a Waianae man who was fatally shot by police in 2019. 

Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, chair of the council’s Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, said the payments were approved to clear out the year and make ready for whatever legal expenses come their way in 2024.

North Shore CSI: Finally, speaking of crime and the council, the council last year also urging HPD to set up a new police substation on the North Shore. Matt Weyer, the area’s councilman, told The Blog that Chief Joe Logan said it’s part of the department’s long-term plan.

If Weyer had his way, he’d like to see the substation combined, perhaps with a new ocean safety hub in Pupukea — specifically, the Shark’s Cove area where some are trying to block commercial development. Weyer said the area is a very long distance from ambulance and police service.

In an “abundance of caution,” Councilwoman Andria Tupola before the unanimous vote on the resolution disclosed that her hubby is a police officer. Score one for transparency!