LEGISLATURE UPDATE
Senate panels to put
OIP killer bill on iceCayetano had hoped to divert
By Mike Yuen
the work to other departments
Star-BulletinTwo Senate panels intend to quash Gov. Ben Cayetano's proposal to kill the Office of Information Practices, which issues opinions on the accessibility of government records. Cayetano's bill would have dispersed OIP's functions to the state attorney general and to the county corporation counsels, which critics such as Common Cause Hawaii contend have lagged in making government records public.
Senate Consumer Protection Co-Chairman Wayne Metcalf (D, Hilo) said official rejection of the bill will come Tuesday when his panel and the Senate Judiciary Committee convene jointly for decision-making.
The panels may look at attaching OIP to the Legislature, Metcalf said today.
When Metcalf asked OIP Director Moya Davenport Gray if that would be a problem, she replied, "No, I don't believe so."
Metcalf said OIP was established because there existed a long-held perception that the attorney general was more a protector of state agencies than an impartial arbiter of disputes involving the public and government offices.
Deputy Attorney General Charlene Aina countered: "This is just a perception. We don't write opinions so we could be sued tomorrow."
Cayetano proposed eliminating OIP and dispersing its functions as part of his plan to streamline government "to achieve certain operation and fiscal savings without compromising the purposes and objectives of the (information practices) act."
He conceded his proposal could increase the time it would take to get opinions on the release of government records.
Testifying against the bill, Common Cause Hawaii Director Larry Meacham said proposed rules on opening government records have been sitting in Attorney General Margery Bronster's department for more than a year without response. "In contrast, OIP has been active in getting agencies to release many files and records that we are entitled to see."
Streamlining plan
meets resistanceThe administration had proposed a
By Mike Yuen
reorganization of six departments
Star-BulletinGov. Ben Cayetano's plan to streamline six departments was shredded last night after it ran into a buzz saw of criticism from several Senate panels and from farmers who testified against the proposed merger of the Agriculture Department with two other agencies. Questions from Sens. David Ige (D, Pearl City), Malama Solomon (D, Kohala) and Wayne Metcalf (D, Hilo) were so pointed that at times high-ranking administration officials defending the initiatives appeared uncomfortable.
Ige went so far as to doubt the value of the administration's consolidation plan since, he said, Cayetano about a year ago issued a report to lawmakers that concluded there's little value in collapsing departments. He wondered if the report was a "snow" job.
Solomon added: "I'm really upset. I hope there wasn't a hidden agenda."
Solomon herself wondered if Cayetano's proposal to merge the Agriculture, Commerce, and Business, Economic Development and Tourism departments into one agency stemmed perhaps from Cayetano's reluctance to target departments that had larger unionized work forces, such as the Department of Education.
In the end, the Senate committees unanimously decided to hold administration proposals that would have consolidated the three departments.
Meanwhile, only half of another Cayetano measure was kept alive.
The Government Operations and Human Resources committees advanced to the Senate money panel a proposal to merge the Budget and personnel departments into a Department of Administration.
But the committees refused to go along with Cayetano's recommendation that the accounting, audit and procurement functions of the Department of Accounting and General Services be part of the new Administration Department.
Since what is now the Budget Department draws up the state's spending plan, it would be wise for it to have some distance from the arm of government that implements and audits the spending to prevent any potential conflicts from arising, said Senate Human Resources Co-Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Liliha).
Senate panels also decided to hold a measure introduced by Senate President Norman Mizuguchi (D, Aiea) that would have required the administration to show at least a 5 percent cost savings arising from the consolidation of departments targeted by Cayetano, plus the Tax Department.
The decision came after Deputy Budget Director Neal Miyahara testified that the 5 percent savings threshold may be unrealistic.
Explaining why Cayetano's proposals ran into such strong resistance, Senate Government Operations Co-Chairman Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa) said:
"The bottom line is we really didn't get the sense of what they really had in mind. What they said wasn't sufficient for the committees."
Brad Mossman, DBEDT deputy director, said he does not see the decisions by the Senate committees as a setback for the administration. The administration will continue its attempts to provide quality public services by streamlining government, he said.
Agricultural interests -- from the Hawaii Banana Industry Association to the Kona County Farm Bureau to Waimanalo farmer Dean Okimoto -- expressed fears that their concerns would become secondary in a new department that wasn't devoted solely to agriculture.
Since farmers are satisfied with the service they're now receiving from the Agriculture Department, it doesn't make sense to tinker with the agency, Chun Oakland said.
Officials from DBEDT, Agriculture and Commerce told lawmakers that each of their departments would save only about $200,000 from a consolidation into one agency.
For Solomon, whose questioning was described as "strident" by a colleague following the hearing, that meant the merger wouldn't produce sufficient savings to justify the move.
Based on her knowledge, Solomon estimated the state could save between $20 million and $30 million by merging the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii system.
Ige asked what consolidation meant in "physical terms."
Commerce Director Kathryn Matayoshi replied it wouldn't make sense for her office to move since the public knows where it is and that's where they get various forms.
Agriculture Director James Nakatani also said it wouldn't make sense to move his department.
Bills lifting consent age to 16
By Craig Gima
deferred by judiciary panel
Star-BulletinThe Senate Judiciary Committee this morning deferred action on two bills to raise Hawaii's age of consent from 14 to 16. In testimony submitted yesterday, Dr. David Paperny, director of adolescent service at Kaiser Permanente, said that according to his surveys, 25 percent of 14-year-olds and nearly 40 percent of 15-year-olds are sexually experienced.
The state Health Department estimates 44 percent of youths in grades 9 through 12 in public schools are sexually active.
The bills were opposed by Paperny and other professionals who deal with teen-age pregnancy and sexual assault.
The bills also faced opposition from women's groups and the state Department of Health.
The major concern was that the bills would have "unintended consequences." There were fears that making sex a crime would cause teen-agers not to seek help for family planning, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV testing and prenatal care.
There are "too many components to it (the bills) to try and piece it together right now," said Sen. Avery Chumbley (D, Kihei), co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Chumbley and co-chair Sen. Matt Matsunaga (D, Palolo) said they will meet with the various groups involved in the issue to try to reach a consensus on the issue.
Legislators hold back bill
By Craig Gima
on medical marijuana
Star-BulletinAIDS patient Alexander Martin did not really expect the state Legislature to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. But he is hopeful the Legislature will make a statement that marijuana should be legalized for people like him who use it to help deal with disease and the side effects of medication.
"I will use whatever I need to do to fight for my life, and I believe that's true for many other people," Martin said after the House Health Committee yesterday voted to hold a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
Instead, committee Chairman Alex Santiago (D, Pupukea) asked the bill's author, Rep. David Tarnas (D, South Kohala), to write a resolution asking the federal government to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana.
Santiago was concerned about a conflict between state and federal law if the state legalized medical marijuana while it is still illegal under federal law.
"Passing laws is not the way to do it, not at this time anyway," Santiago said.
Tarnas had hoped the bill would advance since California and Arizona have legalized medical marijuana.
He believes it will take some time to educate people on the issue.
"It will be back on the table again next year," he promised.
Sidney Hayakawa, the agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Honolulu, said the Health Committee is doing the right thing in not moving the bill forward.
He said there is a protocol on the federal level that may eventually allow doctors to prescribe marijuana.
"We spent hours and hours debating the issue," Hayakawa said.
"From the law enforcement side, we're law enforcement officials and it's our duty to enforce the law, not to make law or change law."
Martin hopes the resolution will pass.
"I think it's a step in the right direction," he said.
Martin also noted that "Hawaii has often led the nation in health issues."
A calendar of tomorrow's hearings -- to be held at the state Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St., unless noted. Hearings marked with an asterisk will be aired live on Oceanic Channel 52 and TCI Cable 13: CAPITOL ROUNDUP
HOUSE
Energy and Environmental Protection: Hearing on bills relating to conservation of threatened and endangered species, water quality in catchment systems and solid-waste management. Decision-making to follow. Also, briefing on Health Department's Environmental Management Advisory Group, 9 a.m., Room 312.
SENATE
UPCOMING
