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GOP plan’s focus:
Schools, tax reform

State House Republicans will also
push legislation for a drug
treatment center

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Changes in education, taxes and personal safety will be the cornerstone legislation pushed by 19 House Republicans this session.

The House Minority Caucus unveiled its legislative package yesterday. The proposals call for textbooks for every public school student, decentralized school boards and higher-paid principals under shorter-term contracts.

Rep. Guy Ontai (R-Mililani) said the key to true autonomy for the state Department of Education is to decentralize the school system by creating district school boards that have the authority to hire local superintendents who live in the district.

Rep. Bob McDermott (R-Foster Village) said there's a need for more textbooks for children after a state report showed a shortage of 134,000 books for Hawaii's public school children.

The caucus also once again called for the elimination of the general excise tax on food and medical service, which could save the average family of four about $600 a year. Republicans believe the loss in revenues would be made up by increased government efficiency and by reducing the government work force.

House Minority Leader Galen Fox (R-Waikiki) said Hawaii has the highest state and local taxes in the country, and he believes the advantage in eliminating the general excise tax on food and medical services is that people will spend more immediately, which would help the economy.

Fox stressed Republicans have no plan on raising the excise tax on other goods and services to compensate for the loss of tax revenue, which amounts to about $150 per person.

Finally, the minority caucus supports the construction and operation of a secure, privately run drug treatment facility that will reduce the recidivism and the local demand for drugs.

Rep. Joe Gomes (R-Kailua) said the federal government views Hawaii as a high-intensity drug trafficking area. Prevention and treatment, and not incarceration and punishment, are the ways to fight the problem.

The caucus wants to use the state's rainy-day fund created as part of Hawaii's settlement with major tobacco manufacturers to pay for the center.

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