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Capitol View
IN times of dwindling resources and supplies, the state Legislature must be nimble to satisfy constituents clamoring for help. If you can not turn to the treasury, the most reliable alternative is the study. When in doubt,
order another studyHappily, for lawmakers, Hawaii has no study shortage. Judging by the result of the last session, we are entering the millennium, fully capable of launching multiple studies.
The study is a standard legislative tactic when your proposed law fails. For instance, when calls for including diabetes outpatient services with health maintenance organization failed, a call for a study passed. It orders that a study be rushed to the Legislature in time for the 2003 legislative session.
Sometimes the Legislature asks what happened to itself. For instance, a request from the Senate urges the legislative auditor find out what happened to the Legislature's "fiscally related powers conferred or assumed by the executive branch that may be reclaimed by the Legislature."
In other words, can someone tell us how the governor took all our powers away?
On a more prosaic level, the Legislature also wants to know how best to keep restrooms in public parks clean. It suggests that the land and Natural Resources Department and the Hawaii Tourism Authority join forces and figure out how to get the visitor industry to help pay.
No solutions are offered, but the Legislature wants a report back by next January.
SOMETIMES the Legislature wants a study about a study, such as the call for a "preliminary feasibility assessment on the use on a large scale of hydrogen as a fuel for transportation."
Recognizing that it is wandering into an area that it knows very little about, the Legislature called for a study to estimate "the cost of conducting a comprehensive hydrogen study."
Sometimes, the Legislature really doesn't have a law it wants to pass, but it just thinks things should be done differently, so it demands that something just be studied awhile.
After hearing about the troubles college students have keeping track of their finances, the Legislature suggested that the University of Hawaii and other colleges and universities study how college students are solicited for credit card accounts.
It also urged the schools to offer consumer credit and money management seminars as part of freshmen orientation.
This is to "assure that students are well-informed about the principles of credit and sound money management." No mention is made if legislative freshmen should also take the course.
ON the same subject on money management, the Legislature this year also asked the university to study Hawaii's ability to pay for public education. No mention is made of what to do if the study says we can't afford it.
Finally, my favorite is not a request for a study, but a simple, two-pronged plea for help. In House Resolutions 38 and 39, the state House implores Hawaii's school children to end years of neglect and name both a state tropical fruit and a state tropical fruit drink.
Sadly, although we have a state tree (kukui), a state bird (nene), a state flower (yellow Hibiscus) and state marine mammal (humpback whale) and even a unofficial state fish (Humuhumunukunukuapuaa); we lack a state tropical fruit and fruit drink.
This is the sort of job that our Legislature and our students can do.
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