The court ruling came in a challenge by the United Public Workers union to Hawaii County's privatization of the construction and operation of a landfill. Union leader Gary Rodrigues says the governor and mayors should not be allowed to eliminate government workers' jobs by farming out public services to private companies.
Nobody is considering wholesale privatization of government services, but selective efforts to bring efficiency to government by contracting out some services are needed and should not be impeded to appease government employee unions. Hundreds of such contracts already exist, including one that provides for 300 state prison inmates to be incarcerated in Texas because of Hawaii's limited prison space.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee has approved a bill providing for a year-long moratorium on the issue, which would merely prolong the crisis created by the court ruling. Committee co-chairwoman Carol Fukunaga says the measure was intended mainly to keep discussion open during House-Senate conference sessions. Still, the action is disturbing.
The Senate should not block passage of legislation such as that approved by the House Finance Committee, giving state and county governments the flexibility to contract out government services. This is not an issue that should be left hanging for a year while politicians look for an easy way out.
On this issue, as with privatization, the Senate should follow the House lead and abandon its obstructionist position.
It may turn out that growing prosperity in China will actually increase the number of illegal immigrants because more people will be able to afford the bribes and payoffs to smugglers. The Immigration Service must remain vigilant -- with its own officials as well as applicants for visas.
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