Dissident senators
criticize last-minute rushThe group contends that amendments
By Pat Omandam
tacked on hurriedly have resulted
in bad legislation
Star-BulletinA day after a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee said there was a mistake in its version of the state budget, a dissident group of senators complained a rush of last-minute amendments has produced bad legislation.
Members of the so-called Senate "People's Majority" yesterday criticized Ways and Means Co-Chairwomen Carol Fukunaga (D, Ala Moana) and Rosalyn Baker (D, West Maui-Lanai) for the lack of information on a flurry of amendments made to a wide-ranging bill passed by the committee on April 9, and a floor amendment to the measure approved Tuesday.
They said not all changes to House Bill 2552, HD1, SD3 were shared with members before the committee approved the bill.
For example, Sen. Randall Iwase (D, Mililani) contended the panel didn't discuss a provision in House Bill 2552 that raises the bond ceiling for the Hawaii Community Development Authority from $60 million to $100 million to fund a parking garage in Kakaako.
Iwase, who heads the 10-member faction challenging the leadership of Senate President Norman Mizuguchi (D, Aiea), added the bill may be too broad. Also, the rush to meet the April 9 midnight deadline for bills didn't allow much time to review other last-minute changes.
Looking for more time
"I would hope that in the future, if we're going to have this kind of all-encompassing bill with these major amendments made, that we would be given more time to review the bill and the digest that accompanies it so that we know what we're voting on," Iwase said.Sen. Marshall Ige (D, Enchanted Lake) said the Kakaako parking garage was an issue that died in last year's session. To have it reappear with little public notice casts a shadow on everything lawmakers do, he said.
"To have something of this nature (come up) at the very last minute, I have a real problem with," Ige said.
Minority Floor Leader Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) added it is bad precedent for lawmakers to to vote on bills not in their final form. He praised Minority Leader Whitney Anderson's (R, Kailua) practice of voting with reservations on bills until he sees their final version.
"I know a lot of people find that humorous or find that it drags out time because everybody is in a rush," Slom said. "The problem is we passed bad legislation. And I would just question whether or not, in fact, it's legal."
Slom, Anderson and Sen. Lehua Fernandes Salling (D, South Kauai-Niihau) yesterday voted against the bill, which passed 20-3. It now goes to a House-Senate conference committee.
Fees added, fees increased
Along with the parking garage provision, the diverse measure allows state departments to charge fees to defray the cost of services provided.Those include fees for archaeological work done by the state Historic Preservation Division, school bus transportation or student athletic activities offered by the state Department of Education, and parking and camping at state parks.
The bill also increases fees for the A-Plus after school program, and establishes four new special funds, including one for the Civil Rights Commission.
And it authorizes the Department of Health to set up a lead abatement program.
One reason for this mixed bag of provisions, Anderson said, is bills get bunched up near legislative deadlines.
That happens because a quorum is needed just to pass amendments in committees, which slows down the process. As a result, proposals get packaged or bundled together, he said.
Consequently, "we're not getting the best legislation that we could," Anderson said.
Iwase added that it's up to the committee co-chairs, including himself, to ensure they explain any changes to members as well as the public, especially so lawmakers can't say they didn't know about last-minute changes to a bill.
The QUEST quandary
On Wednesday, Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Palama-Kalihi) said the Ways and Means Committee made a mistake when it cut $23 million in QUEST funds in the Senate budget passed on Tuesday.She said an overprojection of the QUEST population caused the error, and that the funding would be fixed when the bill goes to conference with the House.
Fukunaga and Baker yesterday said the committee didn't intend to take people out of the program. They said the state Department of Human Services had overestimated its cost last year, and it was logical it may do so again this year.
They are now reviewing the cost of the QUEST program, which provides low-income families with health care assistance.
Both insisted there are no other errors in the Senate budget.
"We don't believe so," Baker said.
Standards for land appraisal
could raise costs, auditor saysThough Higa's report urges such standards,
By Craig Gima
one legislator disagrees
Star-BulletinWhen H. Paul Webber and other owners of apartments at the Kahala Beach Condominium attempted to convert the land under their homes from lease to fee, their appraiser valued the land at $25 million.
A Bishop Estate appraiser valued it at $65.5 million.
The land was finally valued at $53 million.
Why the difference?
Webber told lawmakers in the House last month, it's because all real estate appraisals do not follow the "Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice."
"These unfair appraisal practices create difficulties for residents in condominiums to live in peace and harmony in the community and retain those equities we have earned over long years of hard work," he said.
But in a report released yesterday, the state auditor found that requiring appraisers to use the standards probably would not help Webber and others who live or own businesses on leasehold land.
"There appears to be ample room in the standards and their application to result in very different valuations among appraisers," auditor Marion Higa wrote in an overview of the report.
A bill to require the standards be used for determining lease rent or the purchase of leasehold land is headed for a conference committee.
Senate Consumer Protection Committee Co-Chairman Wayne Metcalf (D, Hilo) said lawmakers consider the report when deciding if the bill will advance.
Rep. Ed Case (D, Manoa), a member of the Consumer Protectionml6 Marion
Higa
Committee and a lawyer who has worked on leasehold cases, said the auditor's report shows the bill is not necessary to protect consumers.
"You cannot reduce the appraisal of land to a step-by-step science. It just doesn't work that way," Case said.
The auditor's report does urge lawmakers to consider adopting standards for all real estate transactions for reasons of consistency. But the auditor also points out there could be increased costs if the standards are adopted.
"I think there's a risk that the regulation will increase costs to all sides of a dispute involving the valuation of land because appraisers would probably charge more for the appraisal," Case said.
Case believes the larger issue is the high cost of land in Hawaii.
"Lots of people were hurt and are still hurting," he said.
But, he said, any solution would bring the Legislature into the property marketplace.
Property claims gets
By Star-Bulletin staff
$1 million appropriationMore claims are being filed with the unclaimed property program, one reason why it needs a $1 million appropriation, said Stanley Shiraki, acting administrator of the Finance Administration Division.
The appropriation was one of 10 Gov. Ben Cayetano signed into law Wednesday. The program was appropriated just under $1.8 million for 1997-98. It paid $1.2 million by December 1997.
State laws require financial assets, such as savings accounts, which are turned over to the program to be deposited into the state general fund, Shiraki said. Property is held for three years. If it's sold after that, the cash also goes into the general fund. Shiraki said people who claim property after it's sold get a check for the value of the property.
Shiraki said one reason why more claims are paid now is because people are more aware of the program's existence. In fiscal year 1990, 150 people filed claims with the program. Last year, 800 claims were filed.
Shiraki said 470 claims have been filed this year, as of January.
He also said the state has had to pay some large claims this year, including a claim of $200,000 in escrow checks.
Child aid agency
By Harold Morse
computers faulted
Star-BulletinThe state Child Support Enforcement Agency processed about 95,766 cases in fiscal 1997 and collected some $85 million in delinquent child support payments.
But the agency got less than high marks from the state auditor in a report released yesterday that pointed out the rising costs of its electronic data processing system.
Auditor Marion Higa said prior reports indicated the agency has had a history of inadequate performance and that problems were compounded by flaws and ineffective operations in the system.
The agency initiated the KEIKI computer system to address problems previously raised, but was unable to get the system in operation by last October's federal deadline.
The shortcoming could cost the state some of the 90 percent available in federal reimbursements, according to the report.
The Child Support Enforcement Agency failed to heed warnings about the excessive scope of the project and about its unrealistic goals in having it operating in a two-year time frame, the auditor's report said.
In 1988, Congress directed all states to create the information systems by October 1995. The deadline later was extended to last October.
Hawaii's system initially was projected to cost $13.8 million, but the figure rose to $20.6 million when a contract was awarded in 1993.
The original contractor failed to perform, and the state canceled the contract and found a new contractor in 1996.
The auditor noted that, as of January, the system's cost had grown to $24.1 million, with additional costs expected to exceed $11.6 million -- putting the total at $35.7 million, or 2-1/2 times the original estimate.
In a written response, agency Administrator Michael Meaney, blamed the increased costs and delays on the failure of the original contractor to complete the work, and said the contractor has been sued by the state.
LEGISLATURE UPDATE
A calendar of tomorrow's hearings -- to be held at the state Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St., unless noted:
HOUSE
None scheduled.
SENATE
UPCOMING
