State legislative leaders reached for common themes on Opening Day at the state Legislature yesterday, trying — at times awkwardly — to speak to a growing anxiety among the poor and the middle class that the Islands they once knew could be slipping away.

Lawmakers have covered familiar ground the past few sessions, as they attempt to respond to the state's high cost of living while pursuing and sustaining robust economic growth. The speeches yesterday, while spare in detail, showed consensus across political lines that sustainability — however it is defined — will guide many of their policy decisions this year.

In her first speech as state Senate president, Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), described her upbringing in Wai'anae as an example of the contrasts and challenges facing the Islands. "How is it possible with such economic growth that so many of us wonder if we will be able to pay our mortgages next month?" she said. "How is it possible with so much housing, so many are homeless?"

"These are the challenges of moving Hawai'i forward in the 21st century," declared Hanabusa, the first woman to preside over a chamber of the Legislature in state history. "We want a vibrant economy, but we want to control growth. We want more housing, but we want to preserve our open space.

"We want to share this special place, but we want it to be first a place for our families."

One could hear similar themes in remarks by state House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise). The state, Say said, must invest in its intellectual capital and diversify the economy beyond tourism and the military.

"First, we must expand the base of existing businesses that pay a living wage," Say said in his speech. "And second, we must better train our work force for the opportunities of tomorrow."

In one of the few specific proposals announced yesterday, Hanabusa said a $75 million tax credit originally designed to help develop an aquarium at Ko Olina Resort & Marina should be redirected toward a digital media center and a program to train hotel managers, both presumably to be on the Leeward Coast.

'MORE COLLABORATIVE'

Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday after attending Opening Day ceremonies that she wants to shift the tax credit toward other economic development projects along the Leeward Coast, but not, at this time, to any specific project.

Last Friday, Lingle released a two-year, $30 million innovation package to help diversify the economy, which is similar to the ideas Say discussed yesterday. Lingle's proposal also includes state money for a digital media center, the concept mentioned by Hanabusa.

"I thought the speeches were much more collaborative than I've heard in the past," the Republican governor said. "There was a commonality of issues that were discussed, from one speech to the next."

Missing from the Democrats' remarks, Lingle said, was tax relief, which is required this year by the state Constitution because of two consecutive years in which the budget surplus exceeded state revenues by more than 5 percent. Lingle is scheduled to preview her tax-relief plans this afternoon rather than wait for her State of the State address on Monday.

"We think it needs to be much broader than just a one-time refund," Lingle said. "I was surprised that the Democrats didn't talk about tax relief because they talked about the impact of overtaxation, they talked about families having a hard time making it, they talked about young people being able to stay here, being able to live, being able to sustain themselves, and a part of that is not taking their money away from them."

LAYING OUT THE AGENDA

Democrats said their priorities for the session will be affordable housing, renewable energy, repair and maintenance at public schools, disaster preparedness and free basic health insurance for an estimated 4,000 children who fall into a gap between state and private health plans.

House Democrats will hold a news conference this afternoon at the Kukui Gardens housing complex near Chinatown to discuss their majority package of bills, while Senate Democrats will likely wait until next week.

In a potentially controversial proposal, House Democrats will consider exempting developers from state land-use and environmental regulations during the permitting process for three years as an incentive to build more affordable rentals. The developers would still have to meet building codes and state health and safety laws, but the idea is to relax a process developers have cited as an obstacle to building affordable housing.

House Democrats also will suggest leasing ceded lands to developers for $1 a year for affordable rentals, with a stipulation that 20 percent of units built in new projects be reserved for Native Hawaiians. "If we really want to take some bold action, housing is the area where we want to take it," said state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa).

Republicans discussed affordable housing, renewable energy, innovation and charter schools as priorities, but said tax relief must not be an afterthought.

"Our response to the daunting tasks before us cannot and must not be business as usual," said state Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai).

'WE WANT IT TO BE NOW'

State House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa), said House Republicans would prefer a large, one-time rebate and structural changes such as eliminating general excise taxes on food and medicine or further increasing the standard income-tax deduction. "But let's face it," Finnegan said. "Tax relief is tax relief, and we want it to be real and we want it to be now."

Yesterday was mostly about bright smiles and food and flowers and music — the Capitol's traditional open house — but it also was about politics.

Three House Democrats, after apologizing to the audience in the gallery, spoke out and voted against the motion to nominate Say as speaker, a rare display of dissent during Opening Day celebrations. State Rep. Scott Saiki, D-22nd (Mo'ili'ili, McCully, Kaimuki); state Rep. Sylvia Luke, D-26th (Pacific Heights, Pauoa, Punchbowl); and state Rep. Della Au Belatti, D-25th (Tantalus, Makiki, McCully), had been among a group of dissidents who wanted to replace Say.

"We must stop the self-dealing and must make reforms to earn the public's trust and make sound policy," Luke said. "We owe it to our constituents to do better. We owe it to each other to do better. We owe it to the future to do better."

Say said he accepted what he described as constructive criticism. But other House Democrats were privately disappointed that the three chose this ceremonial setting to voice their complaints when they have already made similar points through the news media and are free to bring up issues during caucus.

In the Senate, senators approved a new administrative and financial manual that bars bringing in corporate executives as interns during the session. The House informally adopted a similar policy after complaints last session about a Hawai'i Medical Service Association Foundation executive serving as an intern for state Rep. Bob Herkes, D-5th (Ka'u, S. Kona), the chairman of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee.

The state Ethics Commission, in an advisory opinion last September, questioned whether corporate executives or other experienced workers loaned to lawmakers should be treated like gifts instead of interns learning about the legislative process. The commission also said lawmakers could be violating the fair treatment section of the state ethics code if they are using these interns to give companies preferential access.

A DAY OF HOPE

Several people who listened to the speeches yesterday, and ate at the buffets in House and Senate offices afterward, said they were hopeful about the session.

Noreen Cristobal, president of the Kahuku Village Association, said she believes lawmakers will step in and help save the financially struggling Kahuku Hospital. "That's our lifeline of support," she said. "We have Kailua and Wahiawa, but in between, where else do we have to go?"

Cade Watanabe, an organizer with UNITE HERE Local 5, said lawmakers have told him they are committed to preserving good-paying hotel jobs. "It's about sustaining our quality of life so our members can afford to live here," he said.

Ben Shafer, an activist with the Defend O'ahu Coalition, said he hopes lawmakers listen to his group's concerns about the expansion of the Turtle Bay Resort. "I think the most important thing is you see a whole bunch of people here lobbying," he said, viewing it as a sign that people think change is possible.

Hanabusa, in her speech, asked people to help make the idea of sustainability more lasting than the "politically correct word of the week."

"You think it is the same old shibai, that your representatives are going to be satisfied with a PowerPoint and a pat on the back," Hanabusa said. "The truth is, if you, our constituents and the communities we represent, join us in collectively defining and creating a sustainable Hawai'i, we can, we will, we must make this happen.

"We must define sustainability."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.