What’s up with HB 118 that Suspended the Rail Audit?

Aloha Fellow Republicans,   March 13, 2019

What’s up with HB 118 that Suspended the Rail Audit?

And why did your House Republicans all vote “yes” in suspending the requirement that the State Auditor conduct his yearly audit on HART?  

Why did consistently strong opponents of the rail program vote yes to suspending the yearly audit? 

THE ANSWER IS QUITE SIMPLE:

The State Auditor came to the Legislature and requested that the law be suspended  or cancelled because he could not conduct the audit while the rail system was under Federal investigation.  He feared that he would not have complete access to many of the documents needed and the particularly questionable ones would not be available at all.  

Since the Auditor stated he would be unable to conduct a complete audit while HART is under investigation, the Legislature was compelled to repeal the statue.  This was a very straightforward issue that arose due to unexpected circumstances.

A vote to repeal the yearly requirement is not a vote in support of rail, rather a vote in support of the auditor. Finally, the majority will reintroduce the yearly audit after the Federal investigation is completed, and may add other safe guards that the investigation identifies are needed.

Any questions or comments about this?  Call House Minority Leader’s office at 586-6420 or email to repward@capitol.hawaii.gov.

YOU DO DESERVE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON!

You are invited to directly engage with Representative Ward and Representative McDermott about this bill and ALL other bills at a "Republican Caucus Legislative Half-Time Update" at the HRP Headquarters (725 Kapiolani Ave #C105 Honolulu HI) on Saturday, March 16 at 9:30am.  This a great opportunity to get the ground truth about any bill being considered this session.  I'll be there, too...so please come with your questions about party activities as well. Plus, since you know we are powered by volunteers, we would love to make use of any time and talent you wish to share with us.

See you on Saturday!

Mahalo,

SHIRLENE D. OSTROV

Chairman

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HB118: Text, Status "Repeals the requirement that the Auditor conduct an annual review of certain rapid transportation authorities in the State."

Really Obvious Question: Why not just suspend the audit for one year?