Good, bad, ugly in Legislature's last days

While the full flavor of any legislative session cannot be known until the final gavel falls, it is possible to see the outlines of the 2003 session of the Hawai'i State Legislature.

It adds up to a combination of disappointments and successes, colored throughout by a tough budget year where there simply wasn't enough money to go around.

Here's a brief look at where we believe the Legislature is on the right track, along with a smattering of areas where the Legislature had an opportunity to make significant progress but failed.

Bills that should be approved by the Legislature and swiftly enacted into law by Gov. Lingle:

• Campaign contributions (SB 459). By most accounts, this bill falls far short of what Democrats promised at the beginning of the session and does not accomplish the task of "restoring trust in government" that Gov. Lingle assigned herself. Still, the measure moves our troubled campaign financing system in the right direction and should become law.
• School administration (HB 289). Empowers 15 school "complexes" to take greater control of their own administrative and organizational affairs. This is far short of Lingle's proposal to break up the one statewide school district, but — if honored fully by bureaucrats and state administrators — could accomplish much the same purpose.
• Long-term care (SB 1088). This sets up the beginning of a universal long-term-care system in the Islands by creating a new long-term-care tax of $120 a year toward modest cash benefits. It also includes a small tax credit for those who buy their own long-term-care insurance.
• Care-home inspections (HB 914). Authorizes badly needed unannounced inspections of care homes for the elderly by the state. This proposed law, which also gives the state the option of unannounced annual relicensing inspections, would be a crucial tool in the state's efforts to protect and care for our elderly.
• Mental health coverage (SB1321). Long overdue, this proposed law would make permanent a requirement that health insurance for serious mental illness be equal to other forms of health coverage.

In a few cases, it was the Legislature's apparent decision not to act that deserves applause. Among the bills that are dying and should not be revived are these:

• A substantial increase in the general excise tax. While the idea of increasing this tax and dedicating it to education was appealing, the measure was written in a way that would have increased state revenues without directly buying recognized improvements in education. The measure was also regressive.
• Student drug testing. Everyone agrees the state should do what it can to keep our youngsters off drugs, but a testing program run through the schools threatened to alienate young people and damage the bond of trust between students and educators.