Special session set for today
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
In what would be only the second veto override in state history, House and Senate Democratic leaders will convene a one-day special session today to attempt to override at least four of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle's vetoes.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Democrats expect to have the necessary two-thirds majority in each house, despite opposition from Republican lawmakers, who called the override effort irresponsible and partisan politics.
House Speaker Calvin Say, right, and Senate President Robert Bunda announce the convening of a special session today to try to overturn vetoes by Gov. Linda Lingle.
In Japan, where the governor is on a trip to promote Hawai'i tourism, Lingle dismissed the announcement of the special session as petty politics by Democratic leaders.
"It is part of the process, and it's their right to do it, but it's clearly political," Lingle told The Associated Press. "We are simply doing the fiscally responsible thing."
The special session will begin at 11:30 a.m. today. In the only other previous such action, lawmakers in 2001 overrode Gov. Ben Cayetano's veto of an age of consent bill.
This time, the primary focus and rallying issue of the veto override effort is Senate Bill 1305, a $10 million appropriations bill from which Lingle last month cut $3.6 million from 20 social service programs. The money comes from the state's emergency "rainy day fund," which contains about $50 million.
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), said those cuts would have a "devastating effect" on health and social services providers, adding: "We intend to push hard simply because so many people will be hurt by her decisions."
Administration officials said the programs affected by the line-item vetoes were new, newly expanded, or duplicative, or that the language of the appropriation was legally flawed.
Democrats also said they would override the following bills, which Lingle has said she would veto by today's deadline:
- House Bill 282, which requires state agencies to reimburse the legislative auditor for the cost of financial audits conducted by or contracted by the auditor.
- Senate Bill 255, which would make voidable all private restrictions on agricultural activities that are not for protecting environmental and cultural resources.
- Senate Bill 745, which would appropriate $1 million in state general funds for an air ambulance helicopter for Maui County and for the integration of additional ground ambulance services with emergency aeromedical services.
Among the line-item vetoes in Senate Bill 1305 was $400,000 in subsidies to Kahuku Hospital. Lingle said on Saturday that, after hearing from Kahuku Hospital representatives, she decided to restore the $400,000 subsidy.
The governor's office yesterday also rolled back Lingle's line-item vetoes of two other items in Senate Bill 1305: $200,000 for treatment services for child victims of incest and $150,000 for the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline on Maui.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The governor's office said the attorney general's office has determined that the state Constitution bars those funds from line-item vetoes because they are to be spent by the Judiciary.
House Minority Leader Galen Fox, left, and Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings called the convening of the special session irresponsible and urged Democrats to work with the governor.
Lingle would not be required to spend the money that lawmakers plan to restore in their overrides, but House Speaker Calvin Say said: "We're giving these particular providers a chance of one more time having the governor consider the release of these funds."
House and Senate Republican leaders pointed to what Lingle described as a $152 million state budget shortfall over two years, and said the Democrats' efforts are irresponsible and based solely on politics.
"It's also stupid because all of the overrides they do that relate to money, the governor simply doesn't have to spend it," said House Minority Leader Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako).
Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), said: "I think the Democrats really should rethink their position on this and work with the governor constructively to try to solve these problems rather than play political games."
Fox said he doesn't expect any Republicans to support the Democrats' override effort. A two-thirds majority of each house is required to override a veto. Democrats hold 36 of the 51 House seats, and Say said two Democrats will be out of town, leaving them with exactly two-thirds of the vote. Rep. Dennis Arakaki, D-30th (Moanalua, Kalihi Valley, 'Alewa), is expected to return from the Philippines this morning and attend the override session.
Say said House and Senate Democrats were considering overriding Lingle's expected vetoes of other bills, including Senate Bill 768, which reinstates binding arbitration for about 25,000 public employees represented by the Hawai'i Government Employees Association.
Senate officials said the entire override session — expected to take a day — will cost $4,278 in per diem and airfare costs for Neighbor Island lawmakers. That money is already in the Legislature's budget, they said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
