Double duty

In Hawaii, where condo owners say they feel outgunned at the statehouse, Rep. Linda Ichiyama and Sen. Michelle Kidani, both Democrats, sponsored and voted for bills this year that their employers in condominium management had championed. Ichiyama is an attorney for a law firm that represents condo associations while Kidani works for a company that manages condominiums. The bills included a provision that critics say makes it easier for condo board members to re-elect themselves.

Then-House Speaker Joe Souki ruled Ichiyama had no conflicts and could vote, and Senate President Ron Kouchi said he did not remember ruling on any conflicts related to Kidani this session.

“I follow the rules of the Senate, including voting on bills that may relate to my nonlegislative employment,” Kidani said in an email. “Proposed bills are carefully read in order to determine whether there may be any conflict of interests raised.”

Other lawmakers have used public office to polish their dayjob credentials. Rhode Island Sen. Stephen Archambault, a Democrat, has advertised his legislative work as a reason to hire him as a defense attorney in drunken driving cases: “Archambault literally wrote this law, and knows exactly what to do to succeed for you,” his law office website read until contacted by a reporter this fall.

In North Dakota, state Rep. Jim Kasper sponsored bills over the past decade that have provided millions in extra funding to the state’s five tribal colleges, whose operations are usually funded by the federal government.

Kasper, a Republican who owns a company that coordinates insurance benefits, has counted two of the colleges among the hundreds of clients he has had over the years. One has been his customer for three decades.

He said he sponsored the bills because he cares about addressing unemployment near Native American reservations.

“Nothing was hidden,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel it was the right thing to do.”

Lawmakers don’t always choose to cast votes that benefit their private interests. West Virginia Senate President Mitch Carmichael, a Republican, voted for a bill this year to expand broadband internet competition that his company, Frontier Communications, lobbied against.

Within days, Frontier fired him, though it denies it was because of his vote. Spokesman Andy Malinoski said in an email that “market and economic conditions” led the company to eliminate several positions, including Carmichael’s.

Carmichael said citizen legislators frequently feel pressure from outside income sources but usually do the right thing.

“We often feel the influences of employment,” he said. “In my case, the net result is that I lost my job.”