A chronology since inaugural
| • | Lingle sets table for reforms in first year |
| • | Governor's focus on education, economy, regaining trust |
Advertiser Staff
Dec. 2, 2002: Lingle is sworn in as the state's first Republican governor in 40 years after defeating Democrat Mazie Hirono a month earlier. Lingle is the first woman, first Jewish American and first former mayor to become governor.
Dec. 31, 2002: Vowing to keep her promise not to tap into the $175 million from the Hurricane Relief Fund to help balance the state budget, Lingle announces the freeze on hiring nonessential workers and restrictions on spending by state agencies.
Jan. 21, 2003: In her first State of the State address, Lingle outlines a "modest but significant, commonsense" agenda. Among the top priorities: Raise the standard deduction for income taxes, give more authority to the counties. She sets aside Republican proposals to eliminate the general excise tax on food and medical services, saying she will pursue them when the economy improves.
Jan. 31, 2003: The House Education Committee shelves Lingle's plan to send to voters a constitutional amendment ballot question that would establish local, elected school boards.
Feb. 25, 2003: Lingle goes to Washington and testifies in favor of the "Akaka bill" before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and calls Hawaiian recognition "a matter of simple justice."
March 3, 2003: Lingle upbraids state Librarian Virginia Lowell for failing to keep libraries open longer than 40 hours a week in the face of statewide budget cuts.
April 3, 2003: Hundreds of adult education students and supporters testify at the Legislature against cuts made by Lingle to the state's adult education program.
April 11, 2003: In a speech to a group of federal judges and lawyers, Lingle urges the legal community to watch over what she described as a "dysfunctional" Hawai'i Supreme Court.
May 13, 2003: Lingle announces that the state's budget has a $100 million shortfall and that further budget cuts are necessary.
June 20, 2003: Lingle announces to lawmakers her intent to veto 50 bills, including one that would set up a program for long-term care financed with revenue from a $10-a-month payroll tax.
June 25, 2003: During a prime-time speech broadcast live on KITV, Lingle says the Legislature is largely to blame for a $152 million budget shortfall. Lawmakers say Lingle is exaggerating the situation and that they had passed a balanced budget.
July 2003: Lingle travels to Japan with a Hawai'i delegation to promote the state as a destination for Japanese travelers. The Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau covers the travel expenses of a local television news team accompanying the governor. The television station later says it will reimburse the bureau.
July 8, 2003: Legislature overrides six of Lingle's vetoes in the second override session convened since statehood. Lingle dismisses the overrides as petty politics by Democrats.
Aug. 5, 2003: Lingle and her Cabinet launches the first of her 15 "talk story" sessions in communities on six islands.
Sept. 15, 2003: Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona open a three-day drug-control summit in Waikiki, urging unity among government entities in order to combat the epidemic.
Oct. 1, 2003: Lingle's Citizens to Achieve Reform in Education, a panel made up of lay businessmen, is created to look into education reform. No Department of Education officials or state lawmakers are on the panel.
Oct. 15, 2003: Lingle tells the Hawai'i Developers Council they should vote out lawmakers they feel are detrimental to their cause, a comment that later draws criticism from the Sierra Club, Hawai'i Chapter.
Oct. 30, 2003: After the governor's task force recommends a $2.6 billion light-rail line to solve O'ahu's transit problems, Lingle says she will ask the Legislature to give the counties the authority to levy a tax to pay for mass transit initiatives. The tax idea draws protests from some Republicans.
Nov. 24, 2003: Lingle releases a report that says less than half of every dollar spent on public education in Hawai'i gets to the classroom and that the state Department of Education is too centralized. State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto disputes the conclusions.
