Editorial
Hawai'i moves swiftly to deal with crisis

While there is no way Hawai'i can completely escape the dark economic clouds rolling our way, the meeting conducted yesterday by Gov. Ben Cayetano offered strong hope that we will not simply sit passively and await our fate.

Cayetano quickly pulled together a hot-list of business, tourism, political and other leaders to brainstorm a plan to keep the Islands on a steady economic keel. Obviously learning from the experience of the Economic Revitalization Task Force, the governor broadened his guest list to include county mayors and representatives of small business.

But largely missing were representatives of the not-for-profit sector, a huge segment of our economy that has considerable assets to offer in the coming fight. It is also the sector that will be on the front lines if we do suffer a serious economic downturn.

The charities, schools, churches and others in the not-for-profit sector must be included as the details of Hawai'i's response are mapped out.

Cayetano said he will likely call a special session of the Legislature to look at tax relief, regulatory changes and other fixes that can help Hawai'i's businesses and citizens weather the economic storm. This is important, but lawmakers should be wary of making fundamental changes in our social and political structure that they might come to regret once the heat has died down.

The governor also talked about dipping into special funds that are flush with cash but normally unavailable for regular expenses. These include the airport special fund (which would require FAA approval) the rainy-day fund and the hurricane fund.

Again, unusual times call for unusual actions. But the current emergency must not become an excuse to drain these funds for what are in effect routine ongoing expenses. But if the money is used to deal with the crisis at hand, to jump-start the economy, stimulate tourism or help people facing temporary hard times, it will be well-spent.

Hawai'i's future — at least in the short run — will be decided largely by events out of our control. But in those areas where we do have control, including caring for those who suffer economically, we must do everything we can.

Yesterday was a good start.