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House, Senate leaders
say state owes
HGEA pay raise

Gov. Cayetano called
the settlement null and
void earlier this week

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By Richard Borreca
Star-Bulletin

Legislative leaders appear ready to approve an $200 million Hawaii Government Employees Association pay raise, despite Gov. Ben Cayetano's claim that the arbitrated settlement is null and void.

Cayetano shocked legislators this week when he said he thought the arbitrated agreement was dead. Cayetano wants the union to return to the bargaining table and be part of a wage settlement that would include teachers and university faculty.

But state House and Senate leaders said yesterday that they think they owe the HGEA the arbitrated award.

"I was surprised the governor came out so early. I believe the Legislature will have to fund it, if it has been approved by the court," Speaker of the House Calvin Say said.

The award was approved by the courts in September, according to the HGEA.

Cayetano is threatening to veto a bill paying for the HGEA pay raises, but Say warned that Cayetano should expect an attempt to override a veto.

"That could happen, a veto override," Say said.

The chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, Sen. Bob Nakata, said, "It would be extremely difficult not to fund it."

The Legislature was given the arbitrated award in the closing days of the 2000 session, and did not either fund it or reject it.

Cayetano argues that no action equals rejection. He says the attorney general advised him that a failure to act constitutes a rejection. But Nakata disagrees.

"We didn't act on it last time in anticipation that we would do it this time," Nakata said. "We were all hoping the fiscal picture would look better, and it does."

Randy Perreira, HGEA deputy executive director, welcomed the legislative support.

"We are on course to seek funding from the Legislature. That's the next step in the process for us," he said.

Cayetano was unavailable for comment on the legislative reaction, but an 1998 letter written by the Attorney General's Office quotes a 1972 AG opinion that says "rejection may be indicated by the failure to appropriate the necessary funds."

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