Lingle retains hope for bills in her first session

By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

From overhauling the public school system to reforming campaign laws, Gov. Linda Lingle's key initiatives have met with limited success so far in her first session before the state Legislature.

"I feel pretty good at this point," Gov. Linda Lingle said. Advertiser library photo

If unsuccessful, she says, there's always next year.

"I feel pretty good at this point," Lingle said. "The issues that we thought are important are getting a pretty wide public exposure. I think that's most important this first year."

Some observers such as Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawai'i, believe that even when lawmakers are inclined to support a measure Lingle wants, they have tended to either throw a monkey wrench into it or water it down.

Kalapa noted, for instance, that the governor is "getting the issue of a long-term-care tax shoved in her face" in a bill that also includes her plan to give tax credits to those who purchase private long-term-care insurance.

House Majority Leader Scott Saiki, however, said he thinks Lingle has done fairly well in her first year and that many of the differences she's had with lawmakers are not wide ones.

"We agree with the governor on a lot of issues. It's just a matter of how we get to the solutions," said Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a). For instance, he said House Democrats agree with Lingle that public schools can be improved but feel that giving principals more autonomy is the first step rather than elected school boards.

Saiki said that overall, Lingle has done "an admirable job," considering she had about six weeks to prepare before the opening day of the Legislature.

Ira Rohter, a political science professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and chairman of the Hawai'i Green Party, said it's too early to tell how Lingle's scorecard will look at the end of the session given the volatile nature of conference committees.

A key development has been the cautious and deliberate positions taken by lawmakers, particularly House Democrats. "There's an over-arching presence looming, and that's the 2004 election," Rohter said, adding that Lingle has spoken of the desire for a Republican majority in the Legislature. "The people in the House clearly understand that there is survival at stake. A lot of what they're doing is positioning themselves to look as if they're not obstructing Lingle, and that they are also agents of change."

Here is a look at some of Lingle's key platforms:

• Education: Lingle's main vehicle to overhaul the public school system, a bill allowing voters to decide if they want to abolish the existing statewide school board in favor of elected regional boards, was heard by the House Education Committee, which voted not to move it out of committee. Senate Education Chairman Norman Sakamoto came up with his own variation, which has advanced out of the Senate. That bill would have voters decide if they want the Legislature to determine a new, more local-based governance structure — including whether local boards should be elected or appointed.

Two other key school initiatives, bills that would exclude principals from unions and allow charter schools to hire from outside union ranks, were both bounced early in the session after pressure from labor interests.

Lingle said she is happy to be winning support for a bill that would require charter schools to obtain a larger share of financing.

• Ethics/campaign reform: "In the area of restoring trust, we've had some ability there to have our ideas discussed and some success at passing things," Lingle said. A bill that would toughen up procurement laws by establishing a separate set of procedures for picking "design professionals" such as architects and engineers has made its way to the conference committee table.

But Lingle said she is disappointed that the Legislature has failed to move a bill that would have stripped elected officials convicted of a felony of any accrued benefits. The omnibus campaign finance bill advancing in the Legislature, which closes some loopholes in the area of corporate contributions, has been criticized by Republicans and others for not going far enough. But Lingle, whose own bill has fallen by the wayside this session, said she will consider signing it when it gets to her desk.

• Economic initiatives and the budget: The budget, while not a stated legislative priority for Lingle when she took office, quickly became one of the major issues of the session because of its serious ramifications for other issues. Budget Director Georgina Kawamura has found hundreds of millions in cuts and savings from the general fund budget to make up for several shortfalls while keeping Lingle's promise not to raid the Hurricane Relief Fund.

But cuts to the Department of Education and University of Hawai'i budgets have drawn fire as has Lingle's proposal to create more restrictions in the high-tech tax credit law known as Act 221. At the last minute, the Senate last week decided to adopt Lingle's proposal to tighten Act 221's eligibility requirements.

Lingle said she was dismayed that a bill restricting personnel actions from being the basis of workers' compensation claims against their employers has not survived. "It sends a message that we're taking stands that have been hurting the business community and their ability to create new jobs," she said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com and Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com. Or reach either at 525-8070.

Correction: The House Education Committee heard Gov. Linda Lingle's bill allowing voters to decide if they want to establish seven elected local school boards on Jan. 31 but voted not to move it out of committee. A previous version of this story stated that the committee had not heard the bill.