House Democrats' plan needs work indeed
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The majority leadership in the state House has turned its focus toward fulfilling the need for affordable housing, keiki healthcare, effective energy regulation and incentives for alternative fuels and disaster preparedness.
To be sure, the fact that many Hawai'i residents can't cover their basic needs demands public policy reforms.
However, the legislative package presented by House Democrats as a solution to some of these problems is mixed at best. Some proposals, it seems, could hurt more people than they help; others appear to offer more window dressing than real potential for change.
For its part, Democratic leaders say they wanted to propose bold ideas as a way to generate out-of-the-box thinking to fuel the public discussions, adding that all of these ideas can be refined.
Meanwhile, the rough outline has been presented for public discussion, so here are some preliminary thoughts:
But the other giveaway — exempting developers from all permits other than those to meet building standards — sacrifices far too much for any gains the public could reap.
The permitting process is in place for a reason. Review by the experts (and, just as critically, by the public) gives everyone a chance to consider how a project can best fit in a community and whether the resources of water and public facilities can support it.
These are considerations too important to wave off.
If the permitting process is too cumbersome, lawmakers need to find ways to fix that by streamlining the process. An all-out waiver is not the answer and not in the best interest of the public.
Think about residents who buy a home and then lose a job and have to sell immediately. Should they be penalized further by the state?
The hope is that successfully ensuring the care of our children will persuade the state that an uninsured population saves no expense in the long run, and is inhumane.
And a new disaster preparedness office would concentrate on readiness as opposed to disaster response, which has been the bailiwick of state Civil Defense.
It seems more reasonable to beef up resources at the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and at Civil Defense; new, separate bureaucracies are expenses we can't afford.
As a whole, the Democrats' package will disappoint voters who expected something a little closer to a finished product. But what's more important is that the ideas get an examination from all sides.
And state representatives say they'll keep an open mind. That's good to hear. Let the conversation begin.
