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State Auditor Marion M. Higa says the state Legislature could assume more control over the state budget process if it hired more budget staff, required legislative approval for budget cuts and allowed only construction projects that can be built within a specific time frame. Lawmakers should
wrest more control
over budget, auditor saysBy Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinThese were among the findings in a state audit released yesterday that reviewed what state senators called a "serious imbalance" in the executive-legislative fiscal relations since 1987.
The legislature wants to reassert its dominant role in fiscal matters after what lawmakers described as a trend in favor of the executive branch.
"For us in the Legislature, we have nothing," Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa-North Shore) pointing out the governor, for the most part, has the first and last say in the budget process.
"We exercise some power but you know, we don't know where some of those numbers are generated," he said yesterday.
In general, Higa said, Hawaii's legislature does not play as formidable a role in the budget development as in some other states. Some ways it could enhance its fiscal powers include strengthening its technical capabilities, exercising more control of its existing powers over appropriations, taking on additional budgetary powers and tightening its control over executive branch spending.
"The Legislature could take steps to assert its will and improve its ability to review and monitor the state's economic condition and the actions of the executive branch," Higa said.
The audit showed a number of state legislatures play an active role in cutting the enacted budget, but not in Hawaii. For example, Connecticut requires legislative approval when the total budget must be cut by more than 5 percent. Massachusetts mandates legislative approval of gubernatorial cuts, while in New Mexico budget cuts can only be made by an act of the legislature.
Gov. Ben Cayetano is attending the winter meeting of the National Governors' Association in Washington, D.C., and could not be reached for comment. He will return next Wednesday.
The 35-page audit also said the Legislature could gain more control if it authorized only those construction projects that the state administration can complete within a specific time frame. The Legislature may be giving up power to the executive branch by authorizing more projects and funds than needed, and they also create a backlog of projects that could rise in costs as delays mount, the report said.
"The state Legislature hasn't done enough to really be able to match the resources that are available to the executive branch," said House Minority Leader Galen Fox (R, Waikiki). He said lawmakers should have a hearing on the auditor's recommendations.
Fox agreed there is a lack of information available on how the executive branch crafted its budget. And he wants to see legislative subject matter committee chairpersons involved in crafting portions of the budget.
Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Kalama Valley-Aina Haina) said there needs to be a closer scrutiny of the executive branch, which already has far more influence than it should have inside the State Capitol.
For once, Slom would like to see the Legislature override a line-item veto by the governor, especially if the stricken item was supported by lawmakers. Failure to do so is a dereliction of duty, he said.
"It's not the governor's money. It's not the Legislature's money. It's the taxpayers' money," Slom said.
House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) supports some of the findings, but is not sure they can be addressed this session.
Say said the governor does need some flexibility in the state budget because it is based on projections from the state Council on Revenues. If those projections decline after the budget is passed, the governor needs the ability to make those restrictions, he said.
Say added an override of a governor's veto would require a special session that would take time to prepare and orchestrate.
A cheaper alternative would be for lawmakers to address the vetoed item in the supplemental budget the following session, he said.
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