No doubt these are challenging times. We can meet the challenge and overcome that which ails us. We must control our destiny here in Hawai'i. We CAN balance the state budget, not raise taxes and stimulate honest economic growth in the private sector and protect government jobs. Now is the time to make systemic changes to the operation of government. Here is what we, the Hawai'i Legislature, could do to return economic prosperity to the Hawaiian Islands:

1. ATTRITION

Hawai'i employs approximately 48,660 unionized state workers. With salary and benefits, the average annual cost per government employee often exceeds similar workers in the private sector. Through attrition and privatization of certain government services, the total number of government employees could be reduced dramatically. By giving the executive branch the authority to redeploy government workers, Hawai'i could maintain an adequate level of essential government services while simultaneously reducing the government workforce and not laying off existing workers. As of March 2009, there were 26,300 laid-off private-sector employees collecting unemployment benefits. Of this number, 4,200 are receiving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus package benefits. Up until now, no government employees have been laid off.

2. PRIVATIZATION

Certain government services could be provided by the private sector to reduce costs to taxpayers. For instance, Hawai'i has 1,867 prisoners housed in Arizona private prisons at a cost of $74.52 a day per prisoner. Here on O'ahu, the cost to house prisoners is $137 a day. Private prisons could result in huge savings to the taxpayer. Hawai'i could bring prisoners home from Arizona by contracting private providers to operate prisons here in Hawai'i.

Another example is the Hawai'i Health Systems Corp. All hospitals are financially beleaguered, but Hawai'i Health Systems Corporation — which operates state hospitals such as Maui Memorial — is on life support, kept alive by tens of millions of taxpayer dollars per year. According to testimony, state hospitals pay about 17 percent more in labor costs. The medical needs of most of the island of O'ahu are served by private hospitals. Public hospitals, prisons and other select state services could be privatized.

3. PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

Incredibly, our island state has less recreational mooring space than many land-locked states in the continental U.S. The state could develop small boat harbors — which are currently in the doldrums — by entering into public/private partnerships with marina developers. This is done extensively throughout the world. Public access and protecting public interest in state harbors could be guaranteed in lease agreements. For public parks, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Recreational Renaissance plan is a step in the right direction.

4. EDUCATION

The black hole in the state budget is the Department of Education. The DOE spends approximately $2.4 billion a year and Hawai'i consistently produces some of the lowest test scores in the nation. Our children deserve better. Gov. Linda Lingle advocated restructuring education in 2004, but status-quo politicians opted for protecting the existing DOE bureaucracy by throwing more money at the system with no real results. It is important to note that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu operates 37 schools statewide and its "department of education" is made up of five people. It is difficult to extrapolate savings that could be incurred by dismantling the DOE's centralized bureaucracy because without an audit in more than 30 years no one knows exactly what is happening with the money.

5. ACCOUNTABILITY

Most public workers are dedicated, hard-working employees; however, some are not. Union government employee contracts must be modified to hold those exploiting the system accountable. Exploitation of the system by a few selfish government employees hurts fellow employees who do work hard. The formerly dysfunctional Bureau of Conveyances in the DLNR was the subject of numerous audits and a Senate investigation. In 2005, the Bureau of Conveyances spent more than $1 million in overtime. However, productivity still stagnated. This same type of overtime exploitation has plagued prison systems and other select areas of government. It is unfair to all taxpayers. The executive branch must have the means to discipline and/or terminate public employees who are exploiting the system.

These are strategic proposals for which I and other fiscally conservative colleagues have been advocating for years. Our pleas have fallen on deaf ears at the Legislature where politicians throw away hard-earned tax dollars to maintain "business as usual" while promising different results. Please join me in demanding change.

State Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.

Reach Fred Hemmings at (Unknown address).