By Brickwood Galuteria

The 2005 Legislature took very seriously its obligation to the state's educational system, our environment, business community, workforce, and to the safety and security of our communities.

I commend their efforts in balancing Hawai'i's many pressing needs.

For Democrats, education is at the core of improving the quality of life for future generations. The Reinventing Education Act (Act 51) of 2004 began to address rebuilding our public school system for the 21st century. It focused on areas mattering most to parents and students — class size and quality of textbooks.

This session, our legislators emphasized monitoring Act 51 to ensure that taxpayer money is being spent to enhance student achievement, and that school principals have the ability to make funding decisions based on the needs of their communities.

House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro spoke at the opening of the 2005 Legislature. In front was U.S. Rep. Ed Case. Advertiser library photo

The Legacy Land Act — one of the most important environmental bills in the history of our state — places a premium on the the protection of the 'aina, coastlines, open space, agricultural lands, and historic and cultural sites for generations to come. The $3.5 million legacy funds each year in combination with county dedicated dollars will leverage annually nearly $10 million in federal funding for land protection and purchase.

The Omnibus Housing Bill addresses an issue close to the heart of every working family in Hawai'i. Constructing affordable housing for Hawai'i's working people, low-income families and the homeless is addressed through the conveyance tax without increasing taxes in 90 percent of Hawai'i's real estate sales.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has directed the governor's administration to turn around vacant public housing units in 105 days instead of the current 210. In fact, 871 units were vacant in February. As a community that believes in a better future for everyone, Democrats have the responsibility of asking on behalf of those in need — why must families continue to wait for a home?

A combination of factors contributed to Hawai'i's booming economy. Part of the credit for this economic expansion, with unemployment the lowest in the nation, must be given to the Legislature, which sparked this positive business climate during previous lean years by implementing numerous progressive initiatives and by constructing needed schools and other infrastructure.

This session, Democrats in the Legislature carefully reviewed the performance and impact of economic-stimulus initiatives already in place, as was done with Act 221 (now Act 215), which has been called "the most progressive investment tax credit in the country" to attract and grow qualified high-tech businesses.

Equality and fairness in the workplace are core values for Democrats, and this session the Legislature passed the Women's Pay Equity Bill, which promotes equal pay for equal work. A higher minimum wage, to be scaled in over several years, will enable thousands of workers to more fairly share in the state's prosperity.

Criticism of pay raises for Hawai'i's union workers is ill-advised. Most union pay raises will not keep up with a working family's estimated increased healthcare costs. Gov. Lingle has failed to mention that she, the lieutenant governor and her Cabinet members recently received pay raises of up to 18 percent.

Democrats sincerely hope that the governor will not use workers' pay raises as an excuse to once again impound needed funding for vital community organizations as she did last year when she held up $14 million for drug treatment programs that was passed by the 2004 Legislature.

Democrats in this session did not yield to the intense, expensive lobbying effort by the oil industry and kept Hawai'i's unique gas cap law in place. Neither did Democrats yield the to the governor's attempt to unfairly impose new rules to govern the state's workers' compensation law.

Democrats have always fought for the rights of injured workers because we believe an injured worker should be able to ask for and receive timely diagnosis and treatment. Both are often delayed or denied, and without access to healthcare, many become even further injured. This Legislature has wisely postponed any major changes to workers' compensation until the 2006 session and will work during the interim to research this complicated, important issue.

Hawai'i residents have asked for relief to the growing traffic problem, and this Legislature stepped forward with real solutions. The long-debated mass-transit project can now move forward. Funds for needed road and highway construction and repair have been appropriated.

The Legislature passed a long list of business legislation such as House Bill 162, which establishes a small-business set-aside program enabling small businesses to become subcontractors on larger contracts. If signed by the governor, this and the others will greatly benefit Hawai'i's businesses while promoting economic development.

Our Democratic legislators worked with their minds and with their hearts to try to enhance the quality of life for all of Hawai'i's working people.

Brickwood Galuteria is the chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i.