VOLCANIC ASH

By David Shapiro

We're seeing some serious political role reversal in the early days of the state Legislature, with Republican Gov. Linda Lingle offering a large helping hand to the poor while Democratic lawmakers hedge on the availability of funding.

It could be a real opportunity for collaboration to let Hawai'i's "have-nots" in on the economic recovery — or just a new battlefront in the partisan political competition that has ruled the Capitol for the last two years.

Lingle's 2005 legislative proposals contain plenty to please her natural constituency among the upscale and business community — traffic relief, incentives for affordable housing development, tougher law enforcement, tax breaks for business, workers'-compensation reform, less red tape.

But it's admirable that she used her State of the State address — her best chance to highlight her priorities each year — to emphasize serving the neediest first as state revenues expand from Hawai'i's newly vibrant economy.

The governor proposed to cut taxes for the working poor, alleviate homelessness, increase low-income housing inventories, make it easier for welfare recipients to work toward self-sufficiency, and expand preschool options for families with low incomes.

On its face, this seems consistent with traditional Democratic priorities.

House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro noted last week that a founding principle of Hawai'i's 1954 "Democratic Revolution" was "help for those less fortunate — the needy, the poor, the homeless."

House Speaker Calvin Say and Senate President Robert Bunda also spoke of devoting this session to helping citizens hammered by the higher cost of living — especially housing — that has accompanied the economic boom.

The question is whether Lingle and the Democrats are talking about the same "have-nots."

The governor's proposed tax cuts, welfare relief, and preschool and rental housing assistance primarily target families making $40,000 a year or less.

These citizens represent about 40 percent of Hawai'i's population, but wield little political power and often don't even vote.

The Democrats talked about targeting relief more toward their voting base in the solid middle class — in Bunda's words, people like legislators themselves.

When Democrats fret about availability of funding, a concern always on their minds is making sure enough money is reserved to provide generous pay raises for public workers whose unions were so instrumental in their election.

Government employees endured pay freezes in lean budget years, and they certainly deserve to share in the bounty now that state revenues are back on the rise.

But if they use their political muscle to demand amounts disproportionate to what others in the economy are getting, it puts government in the unbecoming position of paying itself ahead of others in greater need.

Compassion for the least fortunate among us is not a new agenda for Lingle. She's championed these issues from the beginning of her term, with little success in the Legislature so far.

Nor is it new to see differences between the governor and the Legislature over allocation of funding between the poor and the middle class.

Former Democratic Gov. Ben Cayetano often chided lawmakers for being too quick and too severe in cutting programs for the neediest to balance the state budget during the tight years of the 1990s.

Now that the budget is relatively flush, it's a perfect time to bring under the umbrella of prosperity those who have suffered the most during both lean times and the boom.

Lingle and the Legislature are speaking essentially the same language.

If their promises to seek compromise over confrontation this year are sincere, there's enough money to provide significant relief to those who need it at all levels of the economy.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.