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Capitol View
IF there is to be a legacy to Ben Cayetano's eight years as Hawaii's fifth elected governor it will be in pulling the power cord on Hawaii's public worker unions. Cayetano’s reform
proposalsMuch of Cayetano's first term was spent putting out the fires of controversy and hushing the cries from outraged public workers and their allies as he was forced to deal with a deficit budget.
With no money to spend, Cayetano soon discovered that he was atop a foot-dragging bureaucracy that was perfectly willing to out-wait him.
Then if Cayetano had a defining moment in his first term, it was the clear victory in a new contract for teachers. Teachers got a 17 percent pay raise and were required to work seven more days a year. The bargaining came minutes before a teachers' strike was set to go.
The extra time for more money was exactly what Cayetano wanted.
At the next election, despite a large and vocal number of teachers who wanted to support the popular Republican candidate, Linda Lingle, Cayetano picked up the teachers' union endorsement, becoming the public labor sector candidate, and won re-election.
Now in his second and last term as governor, Cayetano wants to raise the bar.
He describes himself as uniquely situated to push for enough public worker reform to actually change the state government mind-set. He wants to reward efficiency, banish the "not-my-job mentality" and prepare the state's citizens to live in a digital 21st century.
Others at the Capitol, such as Sen. Bob Nakata, say state workers will have to swim faster or risk being swamped by the tidal wave of computerized change that is engulfing offices across the nation.
Cayetano also turned his attention back to the teachers, saying they should be tested for competency. However, the compelling argument he made for testing during his State of the State speech this week was confused when Cayetano couldn't spell out what specific tests should be administered, how often or even specifically why the testing was needed.
Finally, Cayetano has never strayed far from the financial bottom line, so his government reform package is also motivated by the need to keep the state books balanced.
He says unless something is done now, there won't be enough money to pay the huge health-insurance bills that are coming due by the end of the decade. Red ink is always a great motivator.
BUT for public employees, Cayetano's actions mean that lots of secure notions are out. During the last term, state workers' belief that no one ever gets laid off -- the so-called warm-body policy -- didn't apply anymore.
So here's the decision that legislators must make as they weigh Cayetano's new plan:
Who loves them more -- public worker voters or all the other voters?
Every political challenger must approach the voters with some variation of "you are worse off today than you were four years ago," and every incumbent must explain why the voters are better off today.
Those who follow Cayetano will have an easier time selling the reform pitch to most voters, while those who follow the public worker unions will have a better organized campaign-worker base.
If a majority of the legislators goes with Cayetano, the power of public unions will be dramatically altered and reduced.
But those who rush to find the middle road are likely to lose support from both the unions and the private sector voters.
Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Legislature BillsRichard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com