Posted on: Monday, July 16, 2001

Editorial
Felix: Lawmakers are living on the edge

The sparring between the Hawai'i Legislature and the federal court over the disputed Felix Consent Decree racked up another round last week as lawmakers failed in their effort to subpoena two witnesses.

Federal Judge David Ezra, evidently suspicious that they might have been more about intimidation or harassment than information-gathering, quashed the subpoenas of Ivor Groves, the court-appointed monitor overseeing progress in the state's special-education system, and Juanita Iwamoto, executive director of the Felix Monitoring Project.

Lawmakers said they resorted to their subpoena power because they couldn't get information through other channels. We'd be amazed if Groves and Iwamoto wouldn't respond to a simple polite invitation to share their thoughts.

What lawmakers say they want is a better idea of where $700 million in Felix funds are going over the next two years. They heard from state Auditor Marion Higa, who once again alarmed lawmakers with her findings of inconsistent cost reporting, faulty indentification of children into special education, a lack of independent oversight and possible conflicts of interest.

If that's all the hearings are about, then lawmakers are simply doing their job. But Ezra has worried that what lawmakers characterize as better targeting of spending might instead be an effort to reduce the already onerous financial burden of catching up in this long-neglected obligation to special-needs children.

If the state has mismanaged its own money, Ezra says, he'd like to hear about it. But he isn't shy about threatening contempt citations if he gets the wrong idea about what lawmakers are up to.

Ezra has tried to be reasonable in this necessary effort, but lawmakers should be careful not to push their luck.