Posted on: Tuesday, June 8, 2004

UH opposes procurement bill

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

The University of Hawai'i administration and faculty union have asked Gov. Linda Lingle to veto a bill that would abolish the institution's control over its own procurement processes, calling the bill "a major and damaging reversal of Hawai'i's well-established public policy to support greater autonomy for the university."

House Bill 2136 would bring virtually all state agencies back under tighter control of the State Procurement Code, abolishing all exemptions except those for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the Research Corporation of UH.

State Comptroller Russ Saito, director of the Department of Accounting and General Services, has been meeting with numerous agencies that object to the proposed changes, including UH and the Hawai'i Health Systems Corp., which manages state hospitals on every island.

"Some of the agencies believe it shouldn't be applied to them and we're having discussions with all of them on the issues," said Saito, who admits any changes would slow the procurement process but would also make it more open and establish an appeal process for bidders who feel aggrieved.

It's not the result of wrongdoing in any agency, said Saito, but an attempt to standardize procedures statewide. Currently there are about 42 exemptions to the procurement code, in both state and county agencies.

While the bill has broad impact to standardize bidding procedures for most state departments and agencies, both the UH administration and the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly say approval would reduce the university's efficiency, flexibility and ability to move forward quickly on projects.

The university is a particular case because of the autonomy it gained in a 2000 constitutional amendment when Hawai'i voters supported its exemption from procurement codes.

"As passed, the bill is overly broad," wrote UHPA executive director J.N. Musto and president Mary Tiles, in a letter to the governor, "sweeping the university back into the centralized procurement authority of the State Procurement Office, undoing that which was done by a vote of the people in passing autonomy for the university just a few short years ago.

"There can be little question but that the inclusion of the university back into the central procurement authority is both unconstitutional and unworkable."

UH Chief of Staff Sam Callejo said if the bill is signed, the university will look at "if it's constitutional and if indeed we're going to challenge it." But he said it's premature at this point to consider that action.

Deputy Attorney General Patricia Ohara said she does not believe the bill violates the 2000 constitutional amendment because the Legislature has the authority to enact measures "of statewide concern."

"Nobody wants to be part of the procurement code," Ohara said. "The state procurement office wants it, and we have no legal objection to it."

Callejo said this bill, if signed into law, could potentially be a "major hurdle" for such large projects as a potential West O'ahu campus in Kapolei and even stall construction of a new Cancer Research Center once financing is available.

"This was not part of the original bill. It showed up at the last minute," he said.

The bill is on the governor's desk awaiting action.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.