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Early crossover: The Hawaii State Senate quickly approved three sunshine bills this week, already sending them over to the House for its consideration.

One measure would in excess of $100 into the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund if the recipient of the donation does not send it back to the donor within 30 days after the donation was made. The state frowns on cash donations, checks mo bettah. The fund is used for partial public financing of campaigns.

A second bill calls for having the reporting period comport with the state’s fiscal year. It would bring greater “uniformity, efficiency, and effectiveness” in the administration and enforcement of the state ethics code and state lobbyists law, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission believes.

And a third bill would the way the ethics commission provides advice and conducts investigations.

“The ethical landscape of public service is ever-evolving, and our state’s ethics framework must adapt to those changes,” the commission’s executive director and general counsel, Robert Harris, . “A key component of a proactive ethical framework is the ability to provide timely advice.”

Onward and upwards: Speaking of the ethics commission, it just released for 2023, which includes several sunshiny nuggets o’ news.

As Civil Beat has reported, a new law that took effect Jan. 1, 2023, requires all state employees to take either a live or online ethics training course within 90 days of becoming an employee and at least once every four years thereafter.

The commission now reports that there was an 806% average participation increase — that is NOT a typo — in ethics training last year as compared to the past four years.

The reason? A shift toward self-directed online training modules.

The Vlad Devens bill: OK, so is not actually named for the new Hawaii Supreme Court associate justice.

The legislation from state Sen. Chris Lee would require that justices, judges and judicial nominees file “the same financial disclosures that are required of other state officials.”

Lee’s bill is intended to help prevent bribery and corruption. But The Blog wonders whether, had this been state law when Devens applied to join the high court in late 2022, he would have had to disclose his directorship with Be Change Now — the Pacific Resource Partnership’s political action committee.

Of course, Devens could have simply chosen to skip such a disclosure, as he appears to have in his Judicial Selection Commission application and the resume submitted to the Senate that confirmed him.

Out of the gate: Maui County Council candidate Kelly Takaya King is the first person in the state to officially file her candidate papers for the 2024 ballot. She filed on Thursday, the first day filing was allowed and 24 hours before Honolulu Councilwoman Andria Tupola became the second to file — in this case for a second term and not for Honolulu mayor, as some have speculated.

King, a former councilwoman, finished third behind Richard Bissen and Mike Victorino in the 2022 primary for county mayor. Bissen then prevailed in the runoff over the former mayor.

The Hawaii Office of Elections is updating the 2024 candidate reports almost daily. to see who’s in and who’s not.

Empty gesture: Maui fires? Affordable housing? Sure, that’s top of mind at the 2024 Legislature. But there will be to consider perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation to come before lawmakers in decades: whether to as the official gesture of the state.

The Blog is not making this up but wishes it was. Gang, don’t you have maybe more pressing things to deal with?

The shaka — thumb and little finger extended outward from a closed fist — is “a key brand symbol for the State, offering influential power to build the State’s economy, global brand, and resident pride,” . There is “a shared agreement in the shaka’s positive sentiments and usage toward sharing aloha, fostering connection, and being pono.”

No one is certain where the shaka comes from but pretty much everybody agrees it comes from Hawaii.