Hirono booklet unveils plan for first 100 days as governor

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

In a 20-page booklet entitled, "Our Action Plan for Hawai'i's Future," Hirono and her running mate for lieutenant governor, Matt Matsunaga, listed what they would do in their first 100 days in office.

"We are about taking actions," Hirono said. "We're not standing here making false promises or just saying things. We are making a commitment to you and you know from our past experience that we are the people who are making it happen."

Hirono said in her first 100 days in office she would introduce a bill to reduce the capital gains tax by as much as 50 percent. That would cost about $16 million, she said.

"We are about taking actions," said Mazie Hirono, the Democratic candidate for governor. Advertiser library photo

In the area of education, Hirono said she would accelerate school renovations and push for more money for school repairs and maintenance. She said she would also work with businesses to provide teachers cell phones so they can get help immediately in emergencies.

She also said she wants to bring Hawai'i's per pupil spending into the top 10 in the nation.

Hawai'i spent about $6,487 per student in the 1999-2000 school year and ranked 26th. Pennsylvania, which ranked 10th, spent $7,824 per student. To at least match Pennsylvania, Hawai'i would have to increase its $1.3 billion annual education budget by about $244 million.

Hirono, a former legislator who has served as lieutenant governor for eight years, was vague about the cost of her total plan as well as how much she would increase budgets for certain programs.

She said she expects to implement her plan without increasing taxes. Asked if she had any plans to raise taxes in the future, she said: "I'm ruling out a tax increase at least in the first session and for the rest of the ..." She did not finish her sentence.

She explained that the state will be able to afford these new initiatives by attracting new business investment, creating jobs and expanding the economy.

"There's no getting away from the commitment to increasing the revenue base for the state," Hirono said.

To help senior citizens, Hirono said she would work to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, possibly through a multi-state buying pool, work with advocates on addressing Hawai'i long-term care issues, and expand elder abuse projects to the Neighbor Islands.

"If you look at all of our suggestions, there's really not a lot of cost attached to it," she said. Some of it may be reallocating (money), but truly the big idea such as the Economic Expansion Council, it should be done with very little money for the returns that we expect to get."

With less than three weeks before the election, Hirono's publication of a booklet describing her action plan clearly was an effort to infuse her campaign with new energy. Even some Hirono supporters have worried that her campaign has lost momentum since the primary and she has been criticized for offering rhetoric in the place of specific proposals.

Hirono said her proposals were always on her campaign Web site, but that supporters have suggested she put them in a booklet. The campaign is initially printing about 2,500 booklets.

Lingle, who has been distributing her own booklet, "A New Beginning for Hawai'i," since July, said yesterday that there was little new in Hirono's proposals.

"The lieutenant governor has been in office eight years, and 19 days before the election she comes out with a repackaging of ideas from the past," Lingle said. "It is obvious that Mazie Hirono's lack of good ideas has caught up with her and she has realized time is running out."

Lingle also said Hirono's proposal to reduce the capital gains tax shows "she is out of step with her own party."

Republicans have called for reducing or eliminating the state capital gains tax, which they have said won't cost the state much money but would send a strong message that Hawai'i is an attractive place for investors and the wealthy to spend money. Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration proposed its own version of capital gains tax cuts in 1999. But the proposals failed in the state Legislature.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lawmakers considered a proposal for a capital gains tax credit to encourage people to invest in business property in Hawai'i, but that idea was also dropped during a special session held after the attacks.

But Hirono said it will be different this time.

"You have a whole new team that can make it happen," she said.

Advertiser Staff Writer James Gonser contributed to this report.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.