Lawmakers hail completed session's work
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
Lawmakers sang "Hawai'i Aloha" as well as their own praises yesterday, adjourning on time from what most observers agreed was one of the most successful legislative sessions in years.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In a session overshadowed by strikes by public school teachers and the university faculty, the House and Senate put up about $325 million for public worker raises.
Members of the State House of Representatives crossed the hall to celebrate the end of the session with the members of the Senate, who were still in the throes of voting on bills. In the middle, Sen. Avery Chumbley gives a hug and kiss to Rep. Marilyn Lee, while Rep. Cynthia Thielen looks on.
But lawmakers also demonstrated a measure of independence from the public worker unions.
In a surprising last-minute turnabout, lawmakers approved bills to permit new privatization of public services, and to make major changes in public worker health benefits.
"We did terrific," said House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro. "I feel relieved. I feel very happy with the work product. I think despite the detractors and the naysayers at the beginning ... I think we have demonstrated great change in passing out some landmark bills this session."
Republicans and Democrats briefly debated an unsuccessful attempt to override a veto by Gov. Cayetano, but mostly the last day of session was spent on bipartisan self-congratulation.
"We're on the right track, we're going in the right direction," said Rep. Jim Rath, R-6th (N. Kona-S. Kohala), who is normally one of the more caustic Republican critics of the ruling Democrats. "I think were generally moving out of being an adolescent Legislature into adulthood. We're starting to be more responsible in looking at the burden on the taxpayers."
House Speaker Calvin Say said productivity was "tremendous" this year, in part because the public worker strikes drew attention away from the Legislature and allowed lawmakers to hammer out deals with fewer distractions.
"We just wanted to do the people's work," said Say, D-18th (Palolo-St. Louis-Kaimuki).
Despite the accomplishments of this year's session, Say said he isn't sure if the session will help lawmakers in next year's election.
"On a personal note, I've got to go back into my district and talk story with a lot of the retirees and public employees," he said. On the other hand, he said the budget was balanced with no tax increase, which should be pretty appealing to the business community.
Still, Say said he is worried by signs the economy will slow next year. "Political fortunes are dictated by the economy," he said.
Rath and Rep. Mark Moses, R-42nd (Kapolei-'Ewa Village-Village Park), said the Republican minority played a critical part in pressuring the Legislature to do more.
"They knew that we could make the public aware of the other problems going on," Moses said. "They knew that with us speaking out, and with our ability now to speak out without being stifled, that the public will be made aware of the great concerns before us.
"It may have happened without us. I don't know if it would have or not, but we sure helped the process along."
Specifically, Moses said he believes the Republicans embarrassed the Democrats into passing a bill to raise the age of consent for sexual conduct from 14 to 16, and imposing harsh new penalties for older people who prey on the young.
In the Senate, Minority Leader Sam Slom, R-8th (Wai'alae Iki, Hawai'i-kai), said: "This will be remembered as a historic legislative session.
"This year will erase some of the hard memories of the 1996 Senate and some of the years that occurred (later) where people lost faith and confidence in this body as being truly independent," he said. "I think that we have reestablished our independence and openness in debate. "
Slom also said lawmakers "put our money where our mouth was" regarding promises to make education a top priority and that the Legislature took the first steps toward true educational reform.
Dissident Democrat Rep. Ed Case, D-23rd (Manoa), said the pressure was on this year, and Democrats did better than most people expected.
"But there is a great deal of work to be done," he said. "And the expectations (and the stakes) for the 2002 session are very high. Because again, the question is: Can Democrats lead this state? I think we've done a good job at starting to answer that affirmatively, but we still have to prove it."
