The Senate also approved a rare floor amendment to settle a same-sex marriage dispute that had tested the chamber's committee structure and led to charges of "end-run" politicking.
The flurry of voting on scores of bills came as House and Senate members faced a midnight tomorrow deadline to act on amended bills sent from the other chamber. It sets the stage for conference committees where legislators will thrash out differences as the April 29 closing approaches.
Much of the Senate's floor debate centered on the same-gender marriage issue, with Judiciary Chairman Rey Graulty inserting language into a bill saying that the purpose of Hawaii's marriage law is to preserve relationships between a man and an woman.
Consumer Protection Chairman Milton Holt set off a jurisdictional flap last week when, without
notice, he gutted a measure before his committee to include the statement.
Under a compromise reached Monday, the statement stays alive but Graulty's committee retains authority if the issue goes to a House-Senate conference.
The Senate will vote on the measure tomorrow.
Holt said it reaffirms the Legislature's stand that heterosexual marriage is a fundamental basis of society. But Republican Sen. Whitney Anderson chided Democrats for making decisions behind closed doors.
"All it is is games playing and power for certain individuals," he said.
While the same-gender marriage issue has grabbed headlines recently, the budget is still a central concern.
Senators unanimously approved a plan to cut $175 million in spending and eliminate 1,400 state jobs in what Ways and Means Chairwoman Donna Ikeda described as "a budget of unprecedented austerity." They passed other bills that would cap the counties' share of the hotel room tax and institute a one-time payroll lag.
After lengthy debate, the House also approved a measure calling for the lag, along with 12 days of unpaid furlough for state workers in the next fiscal year. Proponents called the bill a budget-balancing "tool" to take into conference and said it was preferable to layoffs.
But 13 House members were opposed, including six Republicans who described it as a "Band-Aid" approach to deeper problems that could be cured if the state government emulated private sector downsizing.
"We need to stop these attempts to balance the state budget on the backs of all state workers simply because we lack the courage to say this program is essential, this one is not," said Rep. Colleen Meyer (R, Laie-Heeia Kea).
With the House and Senate passing some 325 bills yesterday, the 1996 Legislature is moving to its final stage before its scheduled adjournment April 29. The next phase will be House-Senate conferences to resolve differences in bills. Here are key measures still moving or stalled: The final stretch
Auto insurance rate reform Moving
Furlough of all full-time state workers
Prohibitions against smoking by minors
Government downsizing
Elimination of legislators' "high-three" pension perk
Cap on counties' share of hotel room tax revenues
Legalized gambling Stalled
Proposed constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages
Domestic partnerships for gays
Increase in cigarette tax
OHA gets 20 percent of the revenues derived from ceded lands, but the administration-backed bill would subtract funds raised from airports, harbors and other sources. Gov. Ben Cayetano has said federal law requires revenue generated by the airport to be used only for airport purposes.
"As a native Hawaiian, it's another attempt to renege on an agreement," declared Rep. Michael Kahikina (D, Waianae-Barbers Point).
But Finance Chairman Calvin Say (D, Palolo Valley-Kaimuki), speaking with a "heavy heart and sorrow," said the bill was unrelated to the budget and was an attempt to clarify a long-standing question that would create greater confusion and bad feelings if unresolved any longer.
The House also approved a bill reforming the "high-three" pension system that gives lawmakers enhanced benefits. Rep. Ed Case (D, Manoa) said the current system breeds widespread resentment and must be changed because legislators likely will someday have to look at the growing cost of government employee benefits.
"It would be virtually impossible for us to reach out to those affected for some sort of consensus if we are not also willing to take the same medicine," he said.
The lone dissenter was Rep. Mary-Jane McMurdo (D, Waikiki-Ala Wai), who said well-minded people might be discouraged from leaving steady jobs to enter the intense arena of elective politics without such an incentive.
"It's sort of a knee-jerk reaction to public criticism," she said.
Both chambers passed measures that would allow disruptive or regularly absent students to leave school after they turn 16.
Rep. Bertha Kawakami (D, Waimea-Niihau) objected, saying those troubled teen-agers need the most understanding and support.
But Rep. Terrance Tom (D, Kahaluu-Kaneohe) wondered if the mission of the educational system is
to teach everyone, even those who interfere with the ability of others to learn: "Is a teacher supposed to risk his or her life come hell or high water? I don't know. I don't think so."
The Senate, meantime, unanimously adopted a wide-ranging proposal that would allow the state to exchange land with Campbell Estate to build the University of Hawaii's West Oahu campus in Kapolei.
They also passed a no-fault auto insurance reform bill that aims to cut rates by 25 percent to 35 percent and would eliminate lawsuits except in cases where accident damages exceed $250,000. It also would repeal mandatory bodily injury liability coverage.