ISLAND VOICES
Should Hawai'i keep gas price caps?

By Sen. Fred Hemmings

Republican Fred Hemmings represents the 25th state Senate District (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai).

Gasoline prices are high in Hawai'i, no doubt about it. But, the truth is, so is everything else.

Actually, gasoline as a consumer product is more affordable than many other commodities in Hawai'i. For instance, currently, housing costs are 122 percent above the national average. Electricity is 98 percent above the national average.

HEMMINGS

Partisan Democrats have seized on the fact that gasoline prices are volatile and changing regularly, and they've used that to deceive the public into believing that prices are disproportionately higher in Hawai'i. Due to the high taxation, excessive regulation and business costs, most consumer products in Hawai'i are too expensive.

During April 2002, Democratic legislators broke their own rules to ram the ill-advised gas cap legislation through conference committee in the waning days of the Legislature. This was a clever ploy by the Democratic politicians to set up a campaign issue for the 2002 election. Even though some conscientious Democrats voted against the gas cap legislation, the Democratic Party operatives sent out campaign mailers regarding Republicans who voted against the gas cap legislation. They lied.

Strong words? Let me explain.

The Democrats sent a mailer out saying now-Rep. Brian Blundell and candidates such as the North Shore's Carol Philips had voted against the gas cap. It was a lie, since those individuals were not in the Legislature when the gas cap bill was passed.

The Democrats even sent out mailers saying certain Republicans were bought off by big oil companies with campaign contributions, when the facts are that the Democratic Party and some Democratic elected officials had received more money.

The falsehoods and deception used in the election were set up by the gas cap bill. Now, about 18 months later, the Stillwater Report verifies the facts about the gas cap legislation that led Republicans and some Democrats to vote against it.

The Stillwater Report has recently been denounced by partisan Democrats. One Democrat, Rep. Ken Hiraki, even went as far as to falsely say that the report was altered by the Lingle administration.

Once again, the facts are that the Stillwater Report was commissioned by Democratic legislators who wrote the faulty law and was executed and contracted by former Democratic Gov. Ben Cayetano.

To add insult to the injury of the "alleged" gas cap legislation, the "cap" is often higher than local prices.

I was on the conference committee the night the gas cap bill was rammed through. That day, I bought gas at $1.58 a gallon. The gas "cap" under the Democratic formula would have capped the price at $1.64. The legislation would not even work most of the time, as the Stillwater Report verified.

Once again, the people of Hawai'i have been misled. Hawai'i has high gas prices, but no worse than the many other consumer goods. The Stillwater Report verifies the Republican solution to the gas price dilemma. The Democrats' denial of the facts speak volumes.

We can lower gasoline prices and all consumer costs in Hawai'i by stimulating a free-market economy with more competition, less regulation and lower taxes, thereby creating a productive and profitable economy for all of Hawai'i.

Remember that the Democrats want to punish profit, while there are those of us who feel honest profit is the fuel of a healthy economy.

Let's repeal the gas cap legislation in the 2004 legislative session and do something positive to help the entire Hawai'i economy.