By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

If the Hawai'i Legislature has been known for anything over the years, it has been brinksmanship.

It is nearly a tradition that the core work of the session gets done at the very last minute — or sometimes even beyond the last minute.

Over the years, there were many occasions when someone found a way to literally "stop the clock" in order to delay the midnight witching hour of the final day of the session. On one occasion, the House speaker even went so far as to take the clock off the wall and lock it in the trunk of his car to make sure no one would let the hands slip by midnight.

And anyone who has spent much time at the Capitol will remember times when frantic aides rushed around the building in a last-minute scramble gathering signatures on budget committee reports that had to be in the hands of the clerk before midnight to meet legal deadlines.

It was all about brinksmanship.

House and Senate conferees would, understandably, wait until the last second before cutting a deal in hopes the other side would blink. What is the point of coming to agreement a second before you have to?

In fact, the practice of brinksmanship became so entrenched that legislators frequently had to extend their session when they ran out of time. Last-minute furies and extensions became the norm, rather than the exception.

With this context in mind, one has to be flabbergasted by what has happened at the Legislature this year.

As a matter of political tactics, the majority Democrats wrapped up their work on keystone legislation with two full working weeks left in the session.

Among the measures signed, sealed and delivered to Gov. Linda Lingle are a massive education package, a war-on-ice package and the entire supplemental state budget.

The bills were finished early so, if Lingle chooses to veto them, the Legislature will still be in session and ready for a potential override.

One supposes taxpayers should be grateful. By doing things this way, legislators have avoided the time and expense needed to come back in special session to override vetoes.

But it also is a form of confrontational politics. In effect, the Democrats are daring Lingle to take her best shot.

Partisan politics aside, the way major legislation has been handled this session suggests lawmakers are able to do their work in a much more reasoned and calm way — if they choose.

Imagine if the House and Senate finished their major work two weeks early, and then let those bills sit for a few days so the public, affected parties and others could actually read and understand the legislation before it faces its final vote.

Imagine how many mistakes could be caught, how many improvements made.

A pattern has been set. In the future, lawmakers should make it a habit to finish their big work early. Not as a strategic matter, but as a simple matter of sober, sensible lawmaking.