Posted on: Monday, April 9, 2007
Laws bear watching at critical juncture
|
GET INVOLVED
Weigh in on bills that are poised for final crossover by contacting legislative leadership. Measures with an SB title are now in the control of the House, while HB measures are under review in the Senate. Contact leaders by phone or e-mail: House Speaker Calvin Say, 586-6100, or repsay@capitol.hawaii.gov Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, 586-7793, or senhanabusa@capitol.hawaii.gov
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Tomorrow is one of the important days to keep an eye on the workings of the state Legislature.
That's because it's the last day for a bill to move through its final vote on the floor, allowing for the required 48-hour notice before Thursday's "second crossover" deadline. And then bills most likely will head to conference committees so differences between House and Senate versions of the proposals can be worked out.
At this point, the products still moving down the conveyor belt look pretty pallid. In general, lawmakers appear to be punting on some key issues. For example, in education, it's disappointing to see that, although there are funds allotted to help the state's struggling charter schools, there's been no allowance for more agencies to be authorizers of new charters.
At a time when there's much talk about innovation — the governor's idea of promoting science education through public school "academies" seems to have backing this year — charter schools represent another engine for innovation that needs more fuel.
And on the campaign finance front, lawmakers seem to have lost their nerve on "voter-owned elections," a pilot program enabling the clean-elections public-financing movement an entry point in county council campaigns. That measure, HB 661, has stalled.
So the 2007 session seems unlikely to break new ground in any critical areas. But there are some bills that still could use a push through this next deadline, as well as citizen monitoring to ward off any last-minute, unwanted changes. Here are some notes on other selected measures:
Education: SB 1933, which had been titled the "Omnibus Accountability Act," has been stripped of its accountability language, leaving only some money for teacher preparation and enrichment. The Legislature truly needs to institute some means of making our spending on public schools more transparent, and the establishment of district-level business staff to do this had been one workable approach.
Ethics: HB 1909, an already-pale version of the measure for committees overseeing lawmaker ethics, has gone even paler in its current version. All references to the committees have been deleted and replaced with requirements for drug-testing of elected officials and restrictions on hiring relatives and barring lobbying by spouses. Enabling oversight by an external body, such as the Ethics Commission, would be the most meaningful change, but there seems no willingness to take such a bold step.
Tax relief: The proposal with the best chance of passing this year is likely to be a form of the earned-income tax credit proposal, SB 1919. Given the state's poor record of taxing the poor, this seems to be the best-targeted approach, although the governor continues to lobby for HB 1799, an increase in the standard deduction.
Agriculture: SB 1221, which establishes the Agricultural Business Tax Credit, is still alive — which is a good thing. Agricultural incentives need to be in place this year as a prerequisite for the designation of "important agricultural lands," a critical step in re-energizing the state's agricultural industry.
Environment: HB 1848, which originally required state resources officials to present scientific evidence of overfishing before imposing fishing regulations, has been wisely restructured. It institutes a process to involve communities in rulemaking but does not set the bar impossibly high for state regulation. But the fishing industry is keeping the pressure on lawmakers, so this is a bill that should be watched carefully.
Health: Unfortunately, the current version of SB 1004 still authorizes "appropriately trained and supervised" psychologists practicing in federally qualified health centers to prescribe psychotropic medications for the treatment of mental illness. The shortage of psychiatric care in rural communities is dire, but the solution is to encourage telemedicine services and fund salaried positions for psychiatrists on the Neighbor Islands, not to create a second tier of care. This should not pass in its current form.
As the Legislature moves into the final phase of the 2007 session, time is running short for citizens to leave their imprint. That's why it's so essential for voters to track key legislation and make sure their voices are heard.
