Cayetano's vetoes challenged in court
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa yesterday asked the Hawai'i Supreme Court to invalidate the governor's vetoes of 13 bills, which she says missed a constitutional deadline.
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Hanabusa, D-21st (Kalaeloa, Makaha), filed a writ of mandamus with the high court, arguing that Gov. Ben Cayetano missed a constitutional deadline by one day when he vetoed 13 bills on June 24. Those bills therefore must become law, she said.
Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa says the veto deadline was June 21.
The bills in question include measures that would have provided a $75 million tax break for an aquarium project at the Ko Olina resort, a 4 percent tax credit for other commercial construction, a campaign finance reform bill and a continuation of rent relief for concessionaires at state airports.
"We have these bills, these bills passed, he did not veto them on time, therefore they should be law," Hanabusa said. Hanabusa, who lobbied heavily for the Ko Olina tax credit measure, said her challenge is not just aimed at reviving that bill but that "the issue here is really one of legislative rights and the governor's rights."
The Supreme Court will now decide whether to hear Hanabusa's case, a process she said may take about five days. Hanabusa said that if the high court rejects her case, she may file another action in state Circuit Court.
According to the state constitution, the governor has 45 working days from the end of the legislative session to consider bills but must give the Legislature at least 10 days' notice of intent to veto a bill. The constitution also stipulates that to override a veto, the Legislature must convene no later than noon on the 45th day.
This year, the 45th day is today.
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Hanabusa is arguing that the day the Legislature must convene to override any vetoes cannot be counted in the 10 days' notice so the real veto deadline was actually Friday, June 21. Cayetano vetoed the 13 bills late on Monday, June 24.
Gov. Ben Cayetano stands by his vetoes on June 24.
Hanabusa said two state attorney general opinions — one in 1964 and one in August 2000 — support her position.
Deputy attorney general Maurice Kato said his office yesterday afternoon forwarded to Hanabusa written legal advice on the veto issue that Hanabusa requested late last month. Kato said he cannot discuss the attorney general's legal analysis of the issues because the advice provided to Hanabusa is a confidential attorney-client communication.
Cayetano has maintained that his vetoes are valid and said that if Hanabusa's argument is upheld, it could invalidate decades of vetoes.
Meanwhile, as today's deadline for overriding vetoes approached, lawmakers made another pitch for a special session to override Cayetano's veto of the Democrat-sponsored campaign spending reform bill. Cayetano has said he vetoed the bill because it exempted lawmakers from a ban on contributions from government contractors.
House Minority Leader Galen Fox, R-21st (Waikiki, Ala Wai), said 20 House lawmakers signed a petition for the veto override session. The only Democrat to sign the petition was Rep. Ed Case, D-23rd (Manoa), who is running for governor. Fox said the Democrats' resistance to overriding the veto indicates they don't really want to stand up for campaign finance reform.
"I think they want to talk the talk of campaign reform but when it gets down to the nitty gritty, when the chips are down, they won't deliver," Fox said.
House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-40th (Wahiawa, Whitmore), said lawmakers will work on a better campaign spending measure next year and said the Republicans just want to "exploit the sensationalism in the media right now" surrounding the veto. He said calling for an override session would create chaos because all the other vetoes would be up for consideration.
Advertiser Capitol Bureau chief Kevin Dayton contributed to this report.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
