honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 6, 2001

2002 Legislature has tough act to follow

 •  Bills that passed, or failed, in the Legislature

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

While both Democrats and Republicans hailed the accomplishments of the 2001 Legislative session that ended last week, a number of lingering issues will haunt lawmakers next year.

As the 2001 session closed last week, members of the House joined hands and held them high while they sang "Hawai'i Aloha."

Advertiser library photo

The public, however, has reason to be skeptical that the next session will produce ambitious legislation regarding tough issues.

For starters, much — if not all — of the available money is already spoken for. And while lawmakers will be free to tinker with the budget they passed for the next two years, a supplemental budget year is not a time when major programs are launched.

Another critical factor is that the 2002 election will be one of the most heated in recent times. Besides a gubernatorial election, House and Senate districts will be reapportioned and every seat will be up for grabs.

The Legislature usually avoids controversial issues in an election year and, instead, focuses on measures that will likely win public approval. For example, the 1998 session is remembered for tax cuts and other business-friendly measures while the 2000 session produced targeted tax cuts for resorts and high-technology companies.

But lawmakers can almost surely count on revisiting the Legislature's newly passed public employee health fund "reform" measure that angered public employee unions. Shortly after the bill was signed into law, Senate President Robert Bunda said he would be willing to work with the unions to amend it. Gov. Ben Cayetano, who has challenged the unions and is a staunch supporter of such measures, also indicated he is amenable to a compromise.

Among the failed measures House Speaker Calvin Say wants to revisit next session is a bill that would establish a state pharmaceutical program to make prescription drugs more affordable to residents.

Say also said he's interested in a measure that would have required deposits on bottles and cans to encourage recycling and to reduce litter.

Bunda, D-22nd (Wahiawa, Waialua, Sunset Beach), said he wants to appropriate money for the governor's proposal for $27.5 million for school computers and $4.5 million for new textbooks — both of which were left out of the budget this session.

Bunda also said he wants to look at more money for school repair and maintenance, and pursue more government reform.

"We've tackled some of the important issues this year," he said. "So next year we should ... continue to look at how to best chart our course to make government more efficient."

Another concern hovering over lawmakers is ensuring that the state will be able to handle future costs such as collective bargaining and federal mandates like the Felix consent decree, which mandates improved mental health services for special-needs children.

Lawmakers have set up an "investigative" committee to look into the growing and seemingly amorphous costs relating to the Felix consent decree. Some, like Bunda, are also calling for the Legislature to continue efforts toward civil service reform and reducing the costs of government.

Rep. Ed Case, D-23rd (Manoa), was generally pleased with the results of this session, but said: "We have an incredibly full laundry list for 2002, all of which consists of unfinished business from this session."

"We have very large components of civil service that we did not finish this year. We didn't do it across the board. We had major success in some aspects, but we left some of the business unfinished, and until we do that we really won't have a good operating government."

In the meantime, Republicans — emboldened with their increased numbers in the House — are also promising to revive favorite GOP proposals such as replacing the statewide school board with local school boards and eliminating the general excise tax on groceries, medical services and rent. Both measures died quickly this session.

"We'll definitely try to highlight the need for reform of education and the need to do something to create jobs here," said House Minority Leader Galen Fox, R-21st (Waikiki, Ala Wai).

"We feel like pretty much the public told us: 'We want change in Hawai'i and, Republicans, it's up to you.' So we have to keep fighting for change."

Campaign reform bills are also bound to return next session. Fox said the GOP will press lawmakers on banning campaign contributions from companies that receive government contracts. The House passed the bill after Republicans threatened to pull the proposal on the floor, but the measure failed in the Senate.

And good-government groups will probably continue their fight for the so-called "Clean Elections" bill for a pilot program that would set up publicly financed campaigns for 2002 Honolulu City Council candidates. The bill passed the House but failed in the Senate.

Other issues likely to return next session:

• Drug treatment. Democrats and Republicans are pushing for more drug treatment in the community and for prison inmates. Cayetano will probably make another attempt at legislation to give first-time, nonviolent drug offenders drug treatment instead of prison. That would also mean eliminating the mandatory minimum prison terms for crystal methamphetamine offenders, another proposal that made some key lawmakers uncomfortable.

• Gambling. As a mean to raise money for education, gambling is one of those issues that are "always going to be out there," Bunda said. Gambling opponents launched a strong lobbying effort at the Capitol this session and proposals such as allowing casino gambling for college scholarships quickly failed. But Case predicted gambling supporters will make "a concerted effort in 2002."

• Money for programs and services for female prison inmates. The Legislature passed a bill mandating the female inmates be given programs "substantially equivalent" to men's programs, but the proposal did not include any money. The Department of Public Safety instead is to develop a plan and ask the Legislature for money to pay for it next session.

• Earned income tax credit. The federal welfare reform law will begin pushing families off welfare in December if they have received financial assistance for at least five years. With communities likely to feel the effect of welfare reform, lawmakers may be pushed harder to pass the bill, which was intended to provide relief for the poor.

Staff writer Ronna Bolante contributed to this report.