Editorial
Special session failed to grasp our challenge
A cautious, somewhat intimidated and far from united Hawai'i Legislature fell far short of its potential in the special emergency session that wrapped up last week.
While no one expected miracles or instant salvation for all our problems, the Legislature failed to even reach for greatness, let alone grasp it. It amounts to a lost opportunity, because the sense of urgency and of the moment will likely be lost the next time it meets.
Most of what the Legislature did approve is worthy and needed — as far as it goes. There is no question that the social safety net needed strengthening, our economy needs a shot in the arm and our struggling visitor industry needs promotional help.
All that received attention. But the overall thrust of this session, with a few exceptions, was on the temporary and immediate. The opportunity at hand was the chance to set in motion broad new programs that would substantially diversify our economy and strengthen our institutions — particularly our schools.
What happened in this session buys us some time, but not a great deal more than that.
At a minimum, the Legislature — working with the administration, the private sector and the counties — should use that bought time. Between now and January (when it convenes in regular session) there should be concentrated brainstorming on fundamental change for a Hawai'i that faces a future far different from the one in view on Sept. 10.
It is time to commit substantial public resources and energy on truly diversifying our economy away from its over-reliance on tourism. If Sept. 11 taught us anything, it taught us that.
While there has been plenty of talk about diversification, there has been relatively little urgent effort in that direction. That's because tourism always seemed to rebound and bail us out. We simply cannot count on that happening again. Yes, tourism — or more properly, travel — will remain an important, perhaps the most important, part of our economy for a long time to come. But we cannot allow it to dominate as it has in the past.
And as we search for other economic options, we must renew our education system, from the earliest stages through the highest reaches of the university. This means rebuilding the physical plant, upgrading the quality and salaries of those who teach in our schools and throwing out no longer useful systems of management and administration.
It is in this area where the Legislature came closest to showing true movement. It endorsed the ambitious plan by UH President Evan Dobelle to build a new medical school as the heart of an expanded health and wellness center and biomedical research institute.
This plays into the idea of revitalizing our educational institutions as well as investing in projects that will pay off in economic diversification down the road.
The $100 million for repair and maintenance work on our schools and university campuses, while far short of the $1 billion construction blitz proposed by Gov. Ben Cayetano, will make itself felt quickly on Island campuses — if it is done properly.
That is, the money must be focused on true needs, as identified by school administrators, rather than on pork-barrel or vanity projects that have been put on the books over the years.
If it is done right, the Legislature can come back in January and add additional millions to the program until each and every public education facility in the state is clean, well-maintained and ready for 21st-century learning. That's an investment in the future that counts.
Lawmakers lifted the cap on projects that can be launched without the usual time-consuming bidding and review process to $250,000. A large number of repair and maintenance projects should fit under this limit.
Let's get going on this immediately.
Some smaller but innovative ideas also managed to squeeze out of the special session. One example is the $1.5 million "public works" project that will hire laid-off residents as temporary environmental shock troops, working on eradicating coqui frogs, miconia and mosquitoes. The money will pay basic minimum wages to around 450 people for around three months, so it is no long-term cure. But it will help.
It is instructive that most of the bills passed last week have drop-dead clauses, which means they will expire in a relatively short time. That suggests a fundamental misconception: that Hawai'i faces temporary problems that can be met with temporary solutions.
Somehow, the message has to get across that the future has changed for all of us. This is a worrisome problem, certainly, but also a tremendous opportunity if we approach it with clarity of purpose, courage and a determination to become masters of our own fate.
