Heavy-handed government will keep us mired in muck
| • | Ed Case: General tax relief will bring across-the-board revitalization |
By Fred Hemmings
Perhaps the most symbolic example of state government waste is the reflecting pool that surrounds the Capitol.
Advertiser library photo • June 29, 2001
The pond is symptomatic of how state government throws good money after bad. The pond is full of algae and is stagnant. It requires constant maintenance and periodic multimillion-dollar-plus renovations that have not remedied the situation.
Brynn Leake, a fifth-grade teacher at Kanoelani Elementary School, is teaching Visual Math. Like many in the public school system, she and her students lack resources. Such a problem could be resolved through decentralizing the school system.
It is important to note that ponds at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Kapi'olani Park Bandstand and the Blaisdell Center are crystal-clear and require little to no maintenance. The Capitol pond is a prime example of how state government wastes taxpayers' money on continued mismanagement.
We can eliminate this waste, inefficiency and malfeasance.
There are numerous areas where we can genuinely reform state government to make it more effective, less costly and more responsive. The recent Council on Revenues prediction of the state tax revenue shortfall cries out for meaningful budget reductions.
Here are some ways that legislators can make these necessary cuts in a way that will have a lasting, beneficial effect:
• Decentralize
We have the most centralized, and therefore most inefficient, state government in the nation.
The public education system is state controlled, resulting in a huge centralized bureaucracy that consumes time and money while teachers and students suffer from a lack of resources. We need to abolish the centralized bureaucracy and put personnel and money back into seven separate school districts to streamline operations and services to students.
A state Land Use Commission or state Water Commission has no plausible purpose. Each county could easily assume the responsibility of governing its own resources. State government is fraught with centralized command and control. It should be eliminated. We must also look seriously at eliminating the duplication of county/state services.
• Privatize
It is unnecessary to have state government responsible for hospital systems and the state mental hospital. We should make it profitable for the private sector to assume operations of most, if not all, state hospitals.
The Department of Health and Human Services has proven that charitable institutions are much more capable and cost-effective in providing social services. DHS programs that are being run by the state bureaucracy should be contracted to the private sector.
Future development of public infrastructure often can be done by the private sector. For instance, Hawai'i harbors are in the economic doldrums. Leasing recreational and commercial development rights would allow for the expansion of marinas in harbors at Hilo, Kawaihae, Kahului, Ke'ehi Lagoon, and Nawiliwili. Terms of use could be contracted to the private sector to assure responsible public access and use.
• Revamp the state work force
A headline several months ago revealed that Hawai'i has the nation's largest number of public employees per capita at the state level.
Through privatization and decentralization, we can immediately pursue downsizing the state work force through attrition. It would be in the best interest of the labor unions to cooperate in this effort. Retirement now is better than future forced layoffs because of the Sept. 11's aftermath.
Civil service reform must be coupled with the reduction of the state's work force, so that we can redeploy our state work force cost-effectively and efficiently.
• The Felix consent decree
The requirement to improve services to special-needs students has drained the state of $1.3 billion since 1994. This year, the ongoing total expenditures for Felix will likely top the $2 billion mark, and the state will only have reached provisional compliance with the federal court order.
Investigations into the spending practices of the departments of Education and Health have revealed discrepancies and improprieties in the administration of the Felix response plan. Fiscal accountability of state monies in education is necessary. An independent audit of the accounting system and expenditures by the Department of Education should be done.
The Legislature must scrutinize the state's compliance efforts and hold people accountable for monies appropriated.
• Hawaiian autonomy bill
In light of the recent Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling on ceded lands, it is important we take a serious look at preserving existing Hawaiian programs. In the last legislative session, I introduced a measure, which became known as the Hawaiian Autonomy Bill, that would remove the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands from government.
This bill seeks to vest OHA assets along with the Hawaiian home lands into a private trust, administered for and by Hawaiians. This bill aims to mitigate OHA's existing exposure to lawsuits and other litigation while preserving the public trust in perpetuity. It also would eliminate these agencies from state government, once and for all.
Perhaps the tax revenue shortfall is a blessing in disguise.
Hawai'i's endlessly beleaguered economy and failing government programs, including everything from education to health, are empirical evidence that we need to change. Hawai'i's excessive taxes have stifled our economy. Tax cuts create economic development and result in increased tax revenues. Everyone wins!
Let's put resources, responsibility, and incentives back into the hands of the people of Hawai'i.
Fred Hemmings, a Republican, is a state senator.
