Cayetano says challenge of vetoes not valid

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday said he is confident that Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa, who has asked the state Supreme Court to invalidate his vetoes of 13 bills, will be "proven dead wrong by the courts."

"I think that perhaps her passion for this (Ko Olina) bill has kind of blinded her to these legal details," the governor said.

Hanabusa, D-21st (Barbers Point, Makaha) filed a writ of mandamus with the high court on Monday. She has argued that Cayetano missed a constitutional deadline and that the 13 bills he vetoed on June 24 — including a measure that would provide a $75 million tax break for an aquarium project at the Ko Olina resort — should become law.

"Too bad, Sen. Hanabusa ignores the major flaws in the Ko Olina bill and instead of fixing them, resorts to a legal ploy to deliver the goods to the Ko Olina developers," Cayetano said in a statement released yesterday.

"If she really wants to help the people of the Leeward Coast, she should have used her talent and energy to seek full funding for the Kapolei Library and the long overdue new campus for UH West O'ahu. These two important educational projects would benefit her constituents much more than the Ko Olina bill, which as it now stands, amounts to $75 million worth of corporate welfare."

The Kapolei Library and the proposed sites for UH West O'ahu are not in Hanabusa's district, which covers Kalaeloa and Makaha.

In addition to the Ko Olina measure, other vetoed bills at issue include a campaign finance reform measure, a 4 percent tax credit for other commercial construction, and a rent relief extension for state airport concessionaires.

The state constitution gives the governor 45 working days after the end of the session to consider bills and requires the governor to give the Legislature 10 days' notice of any bills that would be vetoed. The constitution also says that to override any vetoes the Legislature must convene before noon on the 45th day, which was yesterday.

Hanabusa has said the day the Legislature would have to convene to override any vetoes does not count as one of the 10 days, so Cayetano's deadline was really June 21. He vetoed the 13 bills on June 24. Hanabusa said two attorney general opinions support her case.

Contact Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.