Talk Story
WE'VE given Hawaii's government considerable responsibility for economic development, tourism marketing and leadership when times get tough. We expect the state to incubate and attract new businesses, maintain a steady flow of visitors and do what it takes to initiate economic recovery. If Hawaii’s economic
crisis is real, give Ben
the tools to face itLeadership demands action. After Sept. 11, Gov. Ben Cayetano quickly moved to reassure visitors in Japan and on the mainland that Hawaii was safe and that they were welcome.
He then boldly proposed to build a billion dollars worth of new state infrastructure to offset the billion dollars in lost tourist spending, restart and diversify the economy and strengthen the University of Hawaii. To pull this off, he had to sell his program.
A timid Legislature wasn't buying. Temporarily united by the task of addressing the human crisis, it will pass a number of bills to shore up the safety net for the newly unemployed. However, it decimated Cayetano's construction proposal. Now it is embroiled in wrangling over the temporary emergency powers he's asked for.
Responsibility demands authority. If we agree there is an economic emergency and that steps should be taken to move quickly and make the best of the hand we've been dealt, then let's get on with it.
The so-called "King Ben" bill has been exaggerated and ridiculed for partisan, personal and philosophical reasons. It grants temporary and limited emergency economic powers, allowing the governor to act in the public's behalf unfettered by existing state contracts and rules. It is not martial law. It holds him accountable. If the bill has technical problems, let's amend it.
We seem to be unduly preoccupied by state government in Hawaii. Perhaps it's because effective self-government in an island melting pot like ours is so unlikely, given the potential for misunderstanding, miscommunication, ethnic tension and fear of recrimination.
More likely, it's because the private sector is just that -- private. We're interested in government because we can all watch it happening.
We often forget that state government is mainly responsible only for building and running our school and trans- portation systems and managing some health and welfare programs, while the city handles zoning, streets, sewers, garbage and police. That's about it.
Large, jealous, self-sustaining, slow-moving bureaucracies have organized themselves around all these functions. The Legislature funds them by levying taxes while state and municipal courts oversee enforce- ment of laws and regulations, resolve disputes and maintain the gloss of legitimacy.
My point is that when times are bad in Hawaii, we turn to government for relief but government usually can't or won't do much to help -- except in an emergency.
Vicky Cayetano, our business woman/first lady, told us a story a few years ago about a store she patronized. She loved shopping there, but it was apparent to anybody who walked in the door that the place was poorly run. Government wasn't going to fix the place up, install a modern accounting system or deliver the goods when promised.
Government is a convenient scapegoat, however. A story in last week's Pacific Business News quotes a successful Hawaii businessman who exports French pastry to Asia. "Initially it was very difficult," he said. "The state is anti-business and doesn't want to give you a break."
Non-specific whining about the Hawaii business climate has become so routine that we've tuned it out. It usually means somebody else got a better deal, a bigger tax break or a more lucrative contract.
Yes, government can do better, but is it to blame for the 85 bankruptcies and 30 foreclosures reported in PBN's last issue? Did the state cause American Classic Voyages and the Ohana Foundation to close their doors?
It comes down to this: Is there a real economic emergency and if there is do we want government to do something about it?
As they say up in Maine, it's time to fish or cut bait.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.
