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Republicans Size does matter -- at least in the state House of Representatives.
halt 4 House bills
They stop a $32 million
transfer from the rainy day
fund to buy school
computers and booksThe Senate passes a hate crimes bill
By Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinThe 19 Republicans, whose one-third membership of the 51-member House has kept House leadership in check this session, used their numbers yesterday to stop four majority bills on their way to the Senate.
Two measures would have taken a combined $32 million from the state's rainy day fund to buy school computers and textbooks, while the other proposals would have given special purpose revenue bonds to a local company so it could build a new Kakaako headquarters and a freeze-dried coffee facility on Kauai.
In all four instances, the majority could not muster the two-thirds House approval needed to move these bills out of the chamber, in effect killing them.
"We are pleased that the House Republican Caucus was able to force the Democrats to live up to the legislative commitment not to use the rainy day fund inappropriately," said Minority Floor Leader David Pendleton (R, Maunawili).
During a 15-hour House session that ended about midnight last night, a bi-partisan group opposed a bill that swept $27.5 million from the state's emergency and budget reserve funds for school computers and tried unsuccessfully to amend the proposal on the House floor. While they supported the idea, the group complained that the rainy day fund was meant for statewide emergencies.
Republicans noted that a two-thirds approval of the House was needed to take money out of the rainy day fund, but there was not enough support to do so. That prompted House leaders to recommit to committee the school computers bill, as well as a measure calling for $4.5 million from the fund to buy school textbooks.
"Money for computers and textbooks clearly should be from the general fund and not the rainy day fund, but when they (the majority) did not have the two-thirds vote, they violated the law and tried to pass it anyway with a simple majority," said House Minority Leader Galen Fox (R, Waikiki).
The lack of a two-thirds approval also killed two bills aimed at helping Science and Technology International, a local company, build a corporate headquarters in Kakaako and a coffee facility on Kauai. Republicans said that such bonds are usually issued for utilities to help the general public and believed this funding was not the best use of such money.
Overall, House Republicans supported floor amendments to five bills yesterday, but all amendments were unsuccessful. Among them was a bi-partisan effort spearheaded by Rep. Ed Case (D, Manoa), who wanted to restore Gov. Ben Cayetano's proposal for privatization of government services to a bill on managed competition. Case said full privatization would lead to greater efficiency in a time of scarce resources.
But House Labor chairwoman Terry Nui Yoshinaga (D, McCully) countered that the managed competition bill would allow the highest quality of service to be provided by the state -- no matter if performed by public workers or a private company.
Rep. Joe Souki (D, Wailuku) added that managed competition was among the recommendations from the governor's economic revitalization task force.
Meanwhile, the House yesterday approved increasing its legislative allowance to $7,500 from $5,000, with only Reps. Charles Djou (R, Kahaluu) and Noboru Yonamine (D, Pearl City) opposing the plan. Yonamine said lawmakers need to make do with the current levels until the economy gets better.
The full House will vote tomorrow on its draft of the state budget and the budgets of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Judiciary.
Absent from yesterday's important mid-point session was Rep. Brian Schatz (D, Makiki), who is recovering from chicken pox. House Vice Speaker Sylvia Luke (D, Nuuanu) urged members to wish Schatz well but to keep their distance as he remains contagious.
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