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Capitol View
The Cato Institute is about as sentimental as a spreadsheet. This flinty-eyed libertarian think tank doesn't like much about taxes and thinks even less of those who raise them. Cayetano gets
good marks from
think tankIt doesn't matter much where the taxes are going. The Cato Institute is generally happier if they were marching back into a taxpayer's wallet.
Democrats as a whole give the Cato Institute the hives and for years Hawaii, or as past critics used to jeer, the People's Republic of Hawaii would send folks from Cato into tremors.
So it is surprising that Gov. Ben Cayetano, a liberal and proud of it, is getting his second round of good marks from the Cato Institute.
And, if Cayetano's actions are making the socks roll up and down at the Cato Institute, they are finding some followers at the Legislature. Perhaps not a majority, but enough critical mass to launch a credible argument on the House floor.
The Cato Institute is not staffed by dummies. Its report notes that Hawaii is different from other states because its budget holds almost all the dollars for education, an expense scattered among cities, counties and parishes of other states.
But they were still able to assign grades for spending and tax policies to all states, except Alaska, which has a budget system too weird for even Cato.
Hawaii was ranked seventh with a solid B. This is hard for Cato to stomach. "Hawaii has some of the highest taxes, fattest budgets and most generous welfare systems in the nation," the report says.
But, while other states are wallowing in extra cash, Cato notes that Hawaii is "struggling to keep the budget balanced." Then it confesses to secret admiration for Cayetano: "His is one of the most impressive tax-cutting records of any governor."
Of course, the Cato Institute warns that the state "is still hobbled by a culture of overtaxing, over-regulating, and over-paying people for not working."
Meanwhile, down in the trenches, Cayetano's budget dieting is starting to reverberate.
IF the Cato Institute thinks Hawaii's Legislature weeps at the sight of even one person without a fat welfare check or frets that not all civil servants have footstools and Lazy Boy recliners, it should meet Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat and unabashed Cayetano admirer.
As the lone rebel in the Democratic caucus, Case is preparing to do battle against the public employee unions and perhaps join with the 19 House Republicans to force a vote on privatization -- allowing private companies to do work now handled by public employees.
Case sees the path of outright privatization urged by both Cayetano and Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris to be one of "basic change" and a litmus test for the Legislature.
Two bills are moving in the Legislature, headed to the House and Senate money committees, where Case thinks they are doomed. "There's virtually no chance that left alone behind their closed doors the...committees will voluntarily strengthen either bill to authorize privatization," Case said in his weekly report.
So Case plans to force the issue with a floor amendment. He is likely to get the support of the Republicans, but will press his fellow Democrats to choose between the administration's policy and the union's wishes.
"At that time, members will be called upon to make a stark, public choice between change and the status quo," he says.
The result will be watched by the Cato Institute, Cayetano and the unions.
It will be up to the Legislature to decide who gives them the most important grade.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com