'Death with dignity' bill shelved
By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
With election season coming, the House of Representatives rejected the controversial "death with dignity" measure that would have allowed terminally ill adults to get lethal doses of medication that would end their lives.
The House Democrats sent the measure back to the Judiciary Committee.
House Judiciary Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge), among the main proponents, said the House members were divided and the Democrats believed it would be better to raise the issue again later, but not this session.
"People were a little uncomfortable about taking this up in an election year," he said.
The measure also faced an uphill fight in the Senate. Gov. Linda Lingle has stated her opposition.
The measure was one of only a few bills to go down yesterday, as the House and Senate pushed out several hundred bills during marathon floor sessions to meet tomorrow's internal deadline for the legislative bodies to exchange bills for further review. A bill must be approved by the House and Senate to go to the governor.
Other measures still alive this session include the revamped gasoline price cap measure, which the Senate moved out after heated debate. But major initiatives proposed by Lingle in the areas of public-school governance and workers' compensation reform were in tatters.
Two years ago, the House voted 30-20 to pass a similar assisted-suicide bill backed by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano. That measure failed in the Senate in the final days of session.
Rep. Helene Hale, D-4th (Puna), who turns 86 this month and is the oldest legislator, was one of the few lawmakers to raise strong objections to the decision not to vote on the bill.
"I don't want to be a burden on my family or my community," Hale said.
The bill would have prohibited mercy killings, lethal injections and active euthanasia and would have required informed consent by the patient receiving a lethal prescription.
The Senate voted 18-5 to approve an amended gasoline price-cap bill that alters the formula for figuring the top price by tying gas prices to a national average rather than the West Coast. The original law, passed in 2002, is set to take effect July 1.
Senate Bill 3193 would cap regular, mid-grade and premium gasoline wholesale prices as well as diesel fuel based on a national average of gasoline prices reported by the Oil Price Information Service. The original law capped retail as well as wholesale prices.
Senate Republicans said the bill would not reduce gas prices for consumers.
Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), said the bill was a political ploy to "curry favor with people who are being misled on the need for this bill and, more importantly, are being tremendously misled on the impact of this bill."
Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee Chairman Ron Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Waipi'o), said that the bill will withstand legal challenges and that Hawai'i drivers "continue to pay the highest gasoline prices in the country without acceptable justification."
Menor said the bill targets wholesale prices because increased wholesale prices force many dealers to raise prices at the pump to maintain limited profit margins. Capping wholesale prices would give dealers more flexibility to lower prices to be competitive.
A state-commissioned study conducted in part by Irvine, Calif.-based Stillwater Associates and released last year predicted that price caps would lead to higher prices and possible shortages.
The latter part of the daylong House session was dominated by debate over a wide-ranging workers' compensation reform package offered by the administration in an attempt to address concerns raised by business interests about rising costs.
Administration officials say that of nine key components offered by the governor and Labor Director Nelson Befitel, only one remains alive after half the session. That remaining provision, contained in House Bill 1374, would entitle those investigating an occurrence of workers' compensation fraud to recoup medical and other care costs, attorneys' fees and other costs if a successful determination is made.
Reach Gordon Y. K. Pang at 525-8070 or gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com and Lynda Arakawa at 525-8070 or larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
