Bipartisan atmosphere Cooperation between Democrats and Republicans to solve Hawaii's economic crisis appears to be near an end.
disappears at Legislature
GOP members say they're
being ignored; Democrats
complain of GOP doublespeakBy Richard Borreca and Pat Omandam
rborreca@starbulletin.com pomandam@starbulletin.com
After being promised that the Democratic majority in the House and Senate would listen to their ideas for solving the state's problems, Republicans in both houses say they were misled.
But Democrats say it is the GOP that is playing politics.
Sen. Sam Slom (R, Kalama Valley-Aina Haina) said, "There was no unity, there was no openness and there were no solutions."
He and Sen. Fred Hemmings (R, Kailua-Waimanalo), who said the Democrats are passing bills "benefiting the same old-boy network and it is not going to work," wanted more tax cuts and more money for laid-off workers.
That provoked Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D, Moanalua-Salt Lake), who said Hemmings and Slom were practicing GOP doublespeak.
"You say on one hand we are doing too much, and on the other hand we are doing too much," Sakamoto shouted in a floor speech yesterday.
"On one hand, 'Don't collect taxes; we want a tax holiday; and don't tax a whole lot of things,' and then (you are) standing up on this floor and say, 'Let's spend more money.'
"You cannot have it both ways, so cut it out," he said.
Republicans in the House were equality vocal.
Rep. Charles Djou (R, Kahaluu) said he's upset, disappointed and frustrated at the session's direction. He said there is no substantive tax relief, no real help to small business and no economic stimulus to the Hawaii economy.
Maui Rep. Chris Halford (R, Kula-Kihei) added the special session is "fundamentally failed" when it comes to jump-starting the economy -- a sentiment echoed by other GOP members, including Rep. Colleen Meyer (R, Laie).
"I believe we have a crisis, and we're just doing very little," Meyer said. "We're here today because we have a crisis, and I have strong concerns about the fact that we're really not doing anything that's very effective."
If GOP members were quick to complain, the Democrats were just as fast to answer.
Both Democratic leaders said the GOP was tardy in producing Republican bills to be considered in the special session.
"When we were talking about bills, they didn't give us a heads-up on bills when we were discussing all the other bills," Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa-North Shore) said. "We didn't have their bills."
House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo Valley-Kaimuki) added, "I didn't get a chance to see the proposals until Monday."
Both Bunda and Say said two bills, capital-gains tax relief and unemployment benefits for small business owners, were sponsored by the GOP and were included in the package. But neither survived a marathon 10-hour joint House-Senate committee meeting.
Bunda said before the hearing that he personally lobbied a capital-gains tax cut favored by Slom and Hemmings with the House, but in the end, it failed to win support.
"Were they excluded? No. Did they have input? Yes," Bunda said. "Did their bills get heard? Yes. Capital gains got heard, mom-and-pop (unemployment insurance for small businesses) got heard.
"Do they have a case? No," he said.
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