Posted on: Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Here's how governor's agenda for 2001 fared
| • | State of State urges putting politics aside |
| • | Schools set for repairs but not spared the ax |
| • | Few economic initiatives in speech |
| • | Peers praise governor's speech |
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
Governors propose and legislatures dispose, and Gov. Ben Cayetano has won some and lost some in efforts to push his State of the State initiatives through.
This year he is proposing a construction budget of almost $1 billion and an increase in the state liquor tax. He also wants to spend money accrued in the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund.
Last year Cayetano offered some similarly ambitious proposals, but lawmakers quickly spiked the most flashy ideas, such as:
• Spending an additional $1 billion on state construction projects. Lawmakers scaled that back to about $500 million. Cayetano decided to try again this year.
• Using interest earnings from $175 million of the surplus in the Hurricane Relief Fund to finance college scholarships for the state's best students. Lawmakers declined.
• Cutting state income taxes in a series of steps over seven years, which would have been the second income tax cut during his administration. Lawmakers, looking for money to pay for public workers' raises, never seriously considered the proposal.
• Spending another $21 million on computers for public schools to lower the student-to-computer ratio from 6-to-1 to 4-to-1. Lawmakers refused, although they expect to take the issue up again this year.
On the positive side of the ledger, lawmakers opted to go along with portions or all of other Cayetano initiatives:
• Giving the governor and mayors authority to lay off public workers when the state hires companies to provide public services. This was perhaps Cayetano's most significant victory at the 2001 Legislature.
• Paying for a long-range study to determine how much tourism the state can accommodate.
• Offering a tax credit to encourage commercial building renovations. Lawmakers agreed to the tax break for high-tech firms only.
• Financing $140 million of the total cost of the proposed new medical school and biotechnical research facility. Lawmakers finally arranged that financing during a special session in October.
• Providing $4.4 million a year for drug treatment for convicts; lawmakers agreed to provide half that amount.
