Editorial
A timely emergency push from Cayetano

Gov. Ben Cayetano has flexed his newly enacted emergency powers to ensure that people who have lost their jobs in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks can obtain low-cost health insurance.

Legislative leaders who passed these powers in the just-completed emergency session were quick to endorse Cayetano's speedy move to limit the effects of recent events on Hawai'i families, and we agree.

One of the top priorities on the post-Sept. 11 checklist, however, must be an aggressive pursuit of repair and maintenance of Hawai'i's badly deteriorating school facilities.

The backlog of deferred maintenance is well over $600 million. There's simply no way the state can aspire to a diversified, prosperous economy without top-notch education, and that's highly unlikely in such shabby circumstances.

Lawmakers have endorsed but a fraction of the spending — $60 million — they really should have appropriated. But it's imperative that that money be put to work as quickly as possible.

During the tenure of former Gov. John Waihee, lawmakers passed what they called an $800 million education "superfund." It was to provide $90 million a year for school repairs.

When he left office, Waihee was appalled to find that the departments in charge of school repairs — the Department of Education and the Department of Accounting and General Services — had failed to spend much of that money.

Cayetano must not let that happen this time. He must light a fire under these departments.

Cayetano's office tells us that he's asked the departments to expedite these repairs; he's asked for a monthly update on their progress. We're counting on him to ensure that these funds improve our education system while stimulating the economy — quickly.