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GOP forces House
showdown over age-of-
consent bill

Senate honors Mortimer

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

For the first time at least since statehood, a state House minority party has successfully used its recall powers to pull a bill from committee to the House floor.

But the minute after it did so, the House majority party sent the measure back, igniting an hourlong debate on House rules and procedures that tried the patience of state lawmakers.

"Before you go to war, make sure you know where you're aiming your bullets," said Rep. Nestor Garcia (D, Waipahu-Crestview).

After threatening to do so, the 19 House Republicans yesterday said they could not wait for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Eric Hamakawa (D, South Hilo) to schedule a hearing on an age-of-consent bill. Instead, they recalled House Bill 236 to the floor for a preliminary vote.

"We have no assurances this will be handled in a timely manner," said state Rep. Colleen Meyers (R, Laie-Waiahole).

The Democratic majority, however, said the action was premature and excluded public input. The bill's author, Rep. Marilyn Lee (D, Mililani), preferred members not vote on her measure because there were nine other age-of-consent bills that deserved equal consideration.

Hamakawa said there are more than 400 bills pending in his committee and he won't know until next week which ones will be heard before the March 8 legislative deadline to send measures to the Senate. "I will not commit to hearing this or any other bill that hasn't already been scheduled," Hamakawa said.

As a result, the 32-member House majority sent the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, which drew procedural questions from Republicans who believe it isn't right for one group to recall a bill to the floor only to have another send it back to committee.

Exactly which action helps public debate on the issue, asked Rep. Jim Rath (R, South Kohala-North Kona).

State law allows a bill to be recalled from a committee if one-third of the House supports it and 20 days have passed since the measure was referred to that committee. House Bill 236 was referred to the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 23.

This session marks the first time since statehood that there are 19 House Republicans in the 51-member House.

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Senate honors Mortimer
for leading university
toward self-governance,
flexibility

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By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

Despite a weak economy and budget cuts, Kenneth Mortimer has made the best of the situation in his nearly eight years as president of the University of Hawaii, Sen. David Ige said.

Under Mortimer's leadership, the 10-campus statewide system has increased flexibility and autonomy from government, Ige said in a speech before the Senate honoring the outgoing UH president.

Mortimer became the university's 11th president in March 1993. He is scheduled to leave at the end of June. The Board of Regents plans to name his successor by April.

Noting that the occasion may be his first and final opportunity to address the Senate, Mortimer said he "intends to remain actively and totally engaged in the business of running the university" for the remainder of his tenure.

Mortimer said there are critical issues for him to face but did not mention specifics, including pay raises for faculty. The faculty union has announced a possible walkout in early April if a tentative contract is not reached.

Voters backed autonomy

From the beginning he sought to redefine the university's relationship with state government, and the university gaining control over its internal affairs was a major issue, Mortimer said.

Voters in the November election overwhelmingly favored constitutional autonomy for the university and that gave the institution "the single most important opportunity," Mortimer said.

The vote translates to the public endorsing the university's ability to govern itself, Mortimer said, but at the same time "the university has lost the ability to blame its problems on others, without looking in the mirror first."

Among other accomplishments, Ige credited Mortimer with establishing "a sense of system" among the university's 10 campuses, which resulted in ease of transfer of credits among the campuses, and instituting cost-saving "paperless procurement" by giving key executives charge cards for purchases.

The real measure of a great university president is in his ability to raise private money, Ige said, noting that Mortimer's goal is to raise $100 million by the end of his tenure. Mortimer said he has raised $98 million.

Mortimer also was honored in the House yesterday. Rep. Ed Case praised Mortimer for "bringing the university successfully through its most difficult period."

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