Talk Story
WHO says gambling is illegal in Hawaii? In two weeks the governor and Legislature will be rolling the dice on our economic future in the special session at that big casino on Beretania Street, otherwise known as the Capitol. Baby needs a new
pair of shoesBen Cayetano wants us to ante up a billion bucks on the wager that projects like a medical school, cancer research center and a new University of Hawaii-Kapolei campus can turn Honolulu into the health and education center of the Pacific. The idea is both to kick start our stalled economy and diversify it.
I tried to explain the governor's plan to my friend, Bobby, who does weekend yard work and odd jobs for the houses on our street. Bobby works weekdays maintaining the landscaping for a Waikiki hotel. He considered my news about Ben's big wager skeptically.
"I got cut back from five days to two," he said, "and my wife was laid off. She just stays home now." A union construction job isn't in the cards for him. Besides, he said, nothing is going to be built for months. The promised construction jackpot won't directly benefit Bobby or thousands like him.
No matter how quickly the legislation is passed it will take too long before dollars trickle down to the people who are already cut back or laid off. Mortgage payments will be missed, cars repossessed and bankruptcies will mount, each one an indelible mark on a proud family. With hundreds of millions in play, Republican senators, who mostly agree on the need for capital spending, are chafing at being ignored by the media.
"We're not irrelevant," says Sen. Fred Hemmings. "We're speaking for a vast majority of people out there who aren't happy with the way things are done in Hawaii" -- or not done, as the case may be. Senate President Robert Bunda "has a powerful position, but he's not exactly full of ideas," agreed Sen. Bob Hogue, complaining that Democrats still get all the ink.
The GOP duo, plus Sen. Sam Slom, propose redirecting dollars to the public schools, bypassing the Department of Accounting and General Services. Each principal would get a million or two to use right away to fix leaking roofs, repair bathrooms and get the schools shipshape. Hemmings says this plan would "infuse" the money into the economy quicker because they'd set deadlines -- use it or lose it. The senators say UH President Evan Dobelle is using the latest economic crisis, triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, to go after money for projects that have already been debated and denied by the Legislature. "The governor wants to spend, spend, spend," says Slom. "He's ramming through projects that the Legislature has already turned down on their merits."
Besides, those big projects take planning and "won't get money into the economy soon enough," Slom says, claiming the UH capital improvements plan would have no impact for at least three years. Dobelle, however, said he could start laying foundations in just three months. Clearly enjoying the limelight, he waxed philosophic on Public Radio on Thursday: "If you're having a bad day," he said, "there's no better place in the world to have it than in Hawaii." So, cheer up, Bobby.
No need to go Vegas -- lucky you stay Hawaii.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.