Editorials

Tuesday, October 30, 2001

Legislature defers
to the governor

The issue: Lawmakers are considering
whether to yield to the governor on solving
the state's economic emergency.

Giving Governor Cayetano the authority to suspend any law or regulation he deems necessary to pull the state from its economic slump would place too much power in his hands and release feckless lawmakers from their duties. The contention by Democratic legislators that this is the only way to deal swiftly with the economic crisis appears to be more a matter of expediency than efficiency. Their argument that the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House will oversee the governor's actions is specious because neither would have the power to cut him off quickly if the need arises.

The bill set for passage this week by the Legislature would empower the governor to suspend, waive, defer or modify any statute, rule, order or contractual obligation to the state. Senate Democrats proposed the measure because they were concerned that the numerous requests Cayetano made after the terrorist attack put the state's economy in jeopardy were too confusing.

A smart approach would have been to untangle the confusion, outline clearly what authorizations the governor sought, define the purposes and consequences of those authorizations and decide which ones were valid and which were not. Instead, legislators have opted to shirk their responsibilities to the public.

Lawmakers argue that they have not forfeited their powers because they can reverse any moves the governor makes and can revoke the emergency powers at any time. However, yanking powers after the fact is an ineffective way of solving economic problems and can lead to prolonged disputes.

In the weeks before the special session, government, business and community leaders offered several proposals to bolster the economy. Legislators should have taken the time to review them and figure out which of them would have been the most effective and which were needed immediately to help businesses and the unemployed.

Lawmakers cut corners in all the wrong places. They met in closed sessions to negotiate the measures, leaving the public out of the debate. They then set only one day for hearings, again limiting voters' influence. Now, under the guise of quick decision-making, they are forfeiting their powers to the governor.

It is not that Cayetano cannot be trusted to do the right things, but that lawmakers should also be taking the reins. Judicious consideration and efficiency aren't mutually exclusive concepts, except when it involves the Legislature.

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Bring redistricting
up to speed in 2011

The issue: Antiquated time limits have
put pressure on state officials to complete
the redistricting plans for the next election.

HAWAII's election laws covering reapportionment would be fine if everything ran smoothly. Controversy surrounding this year's proposed lines for new state legislative seats has created an urgency in trying to reach final approval so candidates can begin their campaigns. Election officials have little choice but to expedite the current process, but they should plan changes for the next redistricting a decade away.

Information technology has made spectacular gains in recent years and will continue its speedy progress over the next decade. The Legislature should recognize these past and expected advances in revising time limits for developing and approving the 2011 reapportionment plan.

Candidates this year can begin taking out nomination papers on Feb. 1, but the state will be hard-pressed to complete the redistricting process by that time. Nearly a year will have passed since census figures were revealed in March, but an assortment of generous deadlines has created difficulty in compressing the process into that period.

By law, the state Reapportionment Commission must convene May 1. It had 100 days to draw lines for the two congressional districts, 25 state Senate districts and 51 state House districts, and the commission met that Sept. 8 deadline. A final plan was due 50 days later -- yesterday -- following a series of public hearings on Oahu and neighbor islands.

The deadline was missed because those hearings triggered a decision to redraw the lines to eliminate the sharing of districts by areas in different counties and to remove nonresident military dependents from the equation. Those were good changes, bringing the plan into conformity with state constitutional requirements.

However, the changes have prompted another round of pubic hearings that, by law, cannot begin until 21 days have passed. The hearings are scheduled Nov. 19 through Nov. 27. The commission plans to adopt the plan Nov. 30 and submit it to Dwayne Yoshina, the state's chief elections officer, by Dec. 14, seven weeks later than originally scheduled.

All of those time requirements were enacted years ago and have become impractical. New technology allows information to be examined, disseminated and re-examined by the public far more quickly than before.

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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.

Don Kendall, President

Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com
Richard Halloran, editorial page director, 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
John Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com

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