EDITORIAL
Legislature teeters: cooperate or confront

There was an air of cordiality and a lot of talk about cooperation yesterday as the 2004 state Legislature opened for business.

But it didn't take much reading between the lines to determine that the Democrats who control the Legislature are in no mood to simply roll over for Republican Gov. Linda Lingle and her ideas.

When Lingle was mentioned by name, it was generally in kind terms. But in other instances, both House Speaker Calvin Say and Senate President Robert Bunda took tough and direct shots at Lingle.

Bunda, for instance, warned his fellow legislators against going too quickly for "experimental approaches to educational governance," a clear reference to Lingle's proposal to break up the statewide school board. And he cautioned against paying too much attention to "orchestrated" evidence in support of those experiments.

This was quite clearly a reference to consultants brought in by Lingle to advise on educational reform in Hawai'i.

Speaker Say followed a similar line: "We have become so obsessed with the subject of local school boards that we have ignored more important issues," he said.

Say also chided Lingle on the problem of crystal meth, which is shaping up to be a major issue this session. The House and Senate put together a bipartisan task force on Ice and Drug Abatement that came up with a sweeping $21 million anti-drug program for the Legislature to consider this year.

That caused Lingle to say that the plan was somewhat unrealistic in that you cannot solve the drug abuse problem simply by "throwing money at it."

Responded Speaker Say: "To those who say we are just throwing money at the problem, I would say this: It is going to take money and commitment from every part of our state to turn back this terrible epidemic."

Now, if this were simply a way for the Democratic leaders to assert that they expect to be equal partners in the policy debates to come, there is little harm. But if it signals a session dominated by efforts to score the greatest number of political debating points, we are in trouble.

Both Say and Bunda suggested they are willing to take the cooperative approach this year, arguing it is the best way to forge legislation that works.

The Democratic leaders should be held to their word. The public wants cooperation and a genuine effort to find consensus on issues such as education, economic development and drugs.

This doesn't mean surrendering on the policy front. It means looking for solutions rather than occasions for disagreement.

And Lingle, in her State of the State speech next week, should take the Democrats' kinder words to heart and offer pathways toward cooperation rather than confrontation.

There is far too much work ahead to choose any other course.