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Posted: Sunday, May 4th, 2008 5:30 AM HST

State Ethics Commission says Superferry will not be punished

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ The state Ethics Commission says Hawaii Superferry will not be punished for grossly underreporting its lobbying expenses last year. The company spent nearly 380-thousand dollars lobbying lawmakers in 2007, as it fought an environmental impact statement and then asked for legislation allowing it to resume interisland service. But Superferry executives initially reported only 22-thousand dollars in expenses. Executive Director of the state Ethics Commission Dan Mollway says the company cooperated in amending its reported expenses. He says the mistake did not appear intentional. Ethics Commission records show Superferry spent more than twice as much on lobbying as any other organization in 2007. The second-higest lobbying expenditures were by a pharmaceutical group. (Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved)