Senate bill could
block Waahila Ridge
power lines

Week In Review

By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press

Hawaiian Electric Co.'s controversial plan to put higher voltage lines along Waahila Ridge between Manoa and Palolo valleys could be blocked under a bill passed yesterday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The measure requires that all power lines of 138 kilovolts or greater be put underground if they run within 300 feet of a residential area, school or licensed child care center.

"It'll mean going back to the drawing boards," said Fred Kobashikawa, a spokesman for Hawaiian Electric.

There are alternatives to the $31 million project, but they would be much more complex, more expensive and probably would cause other problems for the community, he said.

"This creates a public policy that potentially could be very costly to all our customers, especially in this time of economic decline," he said.

If approved by the Senate, the measure would go back to the House, which earlier rejected a similar proposal.

The Senate committee backed off from an earlier Senate bill that would have required all power lines of 46 kilovolts or greater that were near homes or schools to be placed underground. That would have affected power lines near Village Park subdivision in Waipahu.

The earlier measure also would have been retroactive, affecting all projects that were not yet completed. The revised bill only applies to projects that have not yet been approved by the state Public Utilities Commission.

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WEEK IN REVIEW

Money issues were
key topic at Capitol

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

The Senate's draft of the state budget set the theme for a week that focused on money issues.

Senators on Monday unveiled a draft $3.09 billion state biennium budget -- about $100 million more than the current budget -- which eliminates up to 1,200 vacant positions while it complies with federal requirements for Hawaii's special-needs students under the Felix consent decree.

Two days later, House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) proposed a four-year freeze on public employee pay raises to avoid layoffs or cuts to vital services in light of the state's financial picture. The House Finance Committee, however, revised the measure.

Other key action this week.

EDUCATION

Three Senate committees approved a plan to give the Board of Education taxing powers to raise money for the Department of Education through personal income tax collections. The idea is to make the school board solely responsible for public education, although critics say an appointed board could do a better job.

Gov. Ben Cayetano this week said the public school system has failed a generation of island students. He wants a task force to study the education tax plan.

Other education bills now up for key floor votes deal with University of Hawaii tuition waivers for Hawaiian students and regulation of unaccredited degree-granting institutions. The latter attempts to discourage so-called diploma mills from setting up in Hawaii.

SHARK FINS

A Senate committee deadlocked on a ban on shark finning, which the House had earlier approved. Proponents, led by freshman state Rep. Brian Schatz (D, Makiki), say the practice by fishermen to cut off a shark's fin and discard the rest of the fish may ultimately affect island fisheries because sharks are the top predators in the marine life food chain.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP

A key Senate committee approved the study of a quarter-acre test plot of industrial hemp on the Big Island. While passed by the House, some senators will attempt to snuff it out on the Senate floor.

GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATIONS

For the third time, Gov. Ben Cayetano has nominated Gregory Pai to the state Public Utilities Commission.

His nomination was withdrawn in 1996 because of senate opposition. He was later appointed on an interim basis but resigned after senators complained.

Also up for confirmation is Circuit Court Judge John S.W. Lim's nomination as an associate judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Lim served as the judge who gave controversial jury instruction in the Kimberly Pada attempted-murder trial of her son, 4-year-old Reubyne Buentipo Jr.

STATE HOSPITAL

A bill that would close the Hawaii State Hospital goes to a House-Senate conference committee. Changes this week now call for the Health Department to maintain an 80-bed secure psychiatric rehabilitation unit on the Kaneohe hospital grounds to house patients ordered confined there by the criminal courts.

NEXT WEEK

Second crossover. Thursday is the last day for the House to hold third-reading votes on amended Senate bills and for the Senate to do the same on amended House bills. Debate on the bills is expected on Tuesday and Thursday.

CALENDAR

Tuesday marks the 48th day of the 60-day legislative calendar that ends May 4.

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