Legislators refine
gov’s crisis power

Lawmakers debate how much
authority and for how long

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By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

Lawmakers continue to question a bill to give emergency powers to Gov. Ben Cayetano as the state Legislature prepares to go into special session next week.

While several of the special session's issues, such as increased funds for airport promotion and extended unemployment benefits, have been agreed to, lawmakers in the House and Senate still are discussing a bill to give Cayetano new powers to deal with the looming economic crisis triggered by the dramatic slowdown in the tourist industry.

Under discussion is how much power to give the governor, how long to extend it and how to define the basis for an economic crisis.

Cayetano said on Friday the actual first proposal for emergency powers came from the state Senate, which wanted to consolidate several proposed bills to extend Cayetano's authority into one emergency measure.

Senate leaders also met last week with Attorney General Earl Anzai to discuss the legislation. But House Speaker Calvin Say noted that the House has not discussed the legislation with Anzai.

"It makes good sense," said Say (D, Palolo), "but I will leave it up to the caucus to decide."

Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae) is working on a new draft of the emergency-powers bill and is including a legislative advisory group "to give the public a sense of accountability."

She said her proposal would allow the governor and the Legislature both to work on the needed emergency powers, such as waiving or postponing the payment of state leases or rentals.

The other item Cayetano would be able to handle through emergency powers would be the easing of state procurement laws, so that contractors could easily get state construction jobs and school officials could purchased needed supplies.

Legislators in both the House and Senate say they are planning to go into special session for one week starting Monday, but questions remain about how long it will take to pass all the measures.