Explaining the demise of the auto insurance reform legislation, House Speaker Joe Souki commented, "This is the price of democracy. If this was a totalitarian system, the House would have prevailed, and we would have had a bill." Yes, this is the price of democracy, but it is also the price of a bicameral system. With a two-chamber legislative body, these hangups frequently occur. The 1996 session strengthens the case for a one-house Legislature.
Sometimes a failure to enact legislation is preferable to success. The proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage would have been a regrettable refusal to recognize the right of homosexuals to equal treatment under the law.
As William Safire argues elsewhere on this page, "domestic partnerships" would have been a reasonable compromise. The proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage or domestic partnerships was deservedly defeated.
On auto insurance reform as well, no action was not entirely bad news. The attempt by the House, supported by Governor Cayetano, to abolish the no-fault system in favor of unlimited lawsuits, was a major mistake.
The proposal was made even worse by the plan to have employer-subsidized health-insurance policies cover auto accident injuries. This would have been an added financial burden on business, the last thing Hawaii needs.
It's fortunate that the Senate stood firm in defense of its plan to strengthen no-fault. More lawsuits are not the solution to the high cost of auto insurance.
The Legislature's refusal to sanction gambling or raise income or general excise taxes was also welcome.
One of the modest achievements was the establishment of a nonprofit corporation to provide workers' compensation insurance. Workers' comp is a huge cost item for business and relief is urgently needed. This bill may help but the Legislature must face up to the need for tougher reforms that the unions oppose.
Among other pluses were limited protection against lawsuits for beach accidents for the county governments, tougher penalties for selling the drug crystal methamphetamine or "ice, " the approval of the land exchange with the Campbell Estate for the Kapolei campus of the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, and provision of more incentives for welfare recipients to get jobs.
A big minus was the weakening of the "sunshine law" to allow members of boards to meet privately. Sanctioning secret discussions of public business is a step backward.
The newspaper accuses the Defense Department, which oversees the program, of willingly paying inflated prices and failing to track how the money is spent. It said more than a third of the $11.2 million spent last year could not be accounted for.
We read the report with a sense of deja vu. The United States had much the same experience, but on a larger scale, with the old anti-Communist governments of South Vietnam. Despite the change of regime, the Vietnamese still know how to separate careless foreigners from their money.
Rupert E. Phillips,CEO
John M. Flanagan,Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro,Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang,Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner,Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser,Contributing Editor