Democrats' budget attacked
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
House Republicans attacked the Democrats' proposed budget yesterday, charging it is the largest in state history and will be a burden on taxpayers.
House Democrats are proposing to increase alcohol and tobacco taxes, spend $100 million of the surplus in the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund and increase overall state spending by about $90 million next year.
Rep. Jim Rath, R-6th (N. Kona, S. Kohala), called the budget "the biggest burden we have ever placed on our citizens, because that's where the financing for this burden is borne. It's born on the backs of our citizens, they're the ones that have to carry the burden."
House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro said Republican critics of the budget ignored the "sound fiscal judgment" shown in developing the budget.
"Not one opponent of the budget offered any realistic and concrete alternatives, but instead relied solely upon campaign cliches and sound bites," said Oshiro, D-40th (Wahiawa, Whitmore).
The House easily approved the proposed budget yesterday, which is the major component of a package of bills that would authorize spending of about $3.56 billion next year. That would increase spending beyond the $3.47 billion authorized for this year, but those figures do not include almost $110 million earmarked for this year and almost $210 million for next year for public worker pay raises.
Lawmakers last year approved a more generous budget of almost $3.7 billion the year that begins July 1, but are now cutting back because the Sept. 11 attacks triggered a projected drop in state tax collections.
Rep. Willie Espero, a member of the House Finance Committee, said the committee looked at every potential area to impose cuts, and carefully studied the possibility of eliminating state jobs as state workers leave them.
In the end, the House proposed layoffs of 114 state workers along with eliminating another 120 vacant positions to save on salaries and benefits.
At the same time the proposed budget would add about 1,450 new state worker positions, but House Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine said more than 1,400 of those positions will go to the state Department of Education to provide federally-required services for children with mental disabilities. Most of the people who will be hired for those jobs are already at work in temporary state positions, said Takamine, D-1st (Hamakua, N. Kohala).
"There are some concerns about an increase in jobs, but in the last seven and a half years the administration has cut the state work force by 12 percent if you exclude Department of Education and special education," said Espero, D-41st ('Ewa Beach).
House Minority Leader Galen Fox said the state had an opportunity after Sept. 11 to bring the growth of government in line with the growth in the economy. "Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, with this budget we have blown that opportunity."
Fox, R-21st (Waikiki, Ala Wai), said the gross state product grew by 35 percent from 1990 to 2000. In the same period, the state operating budget grew by 91 percent, he said.
"What we see is a continuing picture of government growth as if something else was happening, as if our economy was growing, when it isn't," he said.
Democrats argued most of the increases in spending were caused by increasing costs that can't be reduced, such as an extra $16 million in debt payments, an extra $65 million in additional health and retirement costs for public workers and another $16 million that must be spent on services required by the federal government for adults and children with mental and physical disabilities.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
