Committee advances bill raising penalties for bribery with amended threshold

The Senate Committee on Judiciary on Feb. 24 voted to pass SB2249 with amendments that raise the threshold for an enhanced bribery penalty and narrow which officials are covered. Daniel Hugo of the Honolulu Prosecutor's Office told the committee federal prosecutors have pulled back from some public-corruption cases after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Snyder v. United States, and said the bill’s heightened penalties are needed to enable effective state prosecution.

"The US Supreme Court's decision in Snyder against United States ... specifically was looking at section 666, which is the typical statute that's used, for prosecuting state and local corruption," Daniel Hugo said, arguing Hawaii needs stronger state-level tools. Public Defender Hailey Chang opposed upgrading bribery from a class B to a class A felony, saying class A felonies are reserved for the most serious offenses and removing probation leaves judges no sentencing discretion. "Making it nonprobationable means that the court only has one option, which is to sentence someone to the open 20-year term of incarceration," Chang said.

The chair proposed amendments to raise the monetary aggregation threshold to $50,000 and to limit covered persons to those subject to the state salary commission, and the committee adopted the chair's recommendation. The roll-call recorded Chair Rhodes and Senators Chang, San Buenaventura and O'Hara voting "Aye;" Vice Chair Gabbard was excused. The committee report directs further drafting to refine aggregation rules and definitions of "elected or appointed official."