Cayetano rips With a month left in the legislative session, Gov. Ben Cayetano says lawmakers are not coming up with any proposals to revive the state economy.
legislative inaction
He criticizes the economic
Governor vows to veto hospitals bill
committees and wants them
to adopt his projectsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comThe governor also said leadership of the key House and Senate economic development committees have not come up with any strong ideas to help the state, and suggested they are Legislature's weakest links.
"Basically, what they're (legislators are) doing is hunkering down, and I think that's the wrong thing to do at this particular time," Cayetano said yesterday. "They've put two of their weakest people in charge of two important committees. Nothing's coming out of the economic development committees."
House Economic Development Chairwoman Lei Ahu Isa (D, Liliha) responded by saying Cayetano is looking for a scapegoat for the state's economic problems.
Isa stressed that she and Senate Economic Development Chairman Rod Tam (D, Pauoa) have worked hard this session to come up with measures to stimulate the economy.
"He's (Cayetano's) the one who doesn't really know what's going on," she said.
Tam, who acknowledged that he and the governor do not get along, said Cayetano's criticism is misplaced.
Tam said he did not see any economic stimulation ideas from the governor in his last State-of-the-State speech, only highlights of his accomplishments over the past eight years.
"I was taught by my father that people who criticize others show that they cannot do anything themselves," Tam said.
Cayetano said he was frustrated with state lawmakers who are refusing to fully fund nearly $1 billion in capital improvement projects he has proposed in this second year of the biennium budget. With interest rates at a historic low, he insists now is the time to invest heavily in education construction and in improving the state's aging infrastructure of buildings.
He said the money should be authorized now, instead of waiting for when the economy improves -- and interest rates rise -- to tackle the backlog of construction work.
"I virtually have drawn pictures on the blackboard for them," the governor said.
House and Senate leaders bristled at the governor's comments, saying there are many factors when it comes to funding construction projects.
House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) noted that the current two-year budget already includes $560 million in approved construction projects. He said to give the governor an extra $900 million in this supplemental budget year means nearly $1.5 billion in general obligation bonds for fiscal years 2001-2003.
It is an amount that may put the state's bond rating in jeopardy, said Say, adding $100 million of that construction money is immediately available but has yet to be released.
"To say we are not trying to stimulate the economy in the construction area is very much incorrect to state at this point," Say said.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa) agreed debt service, or the interest paid on the bonds, is a primary concern. He added if the state puts too many construction projects out to bid, then the cost of construction will rise because there will be less competition among them.
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Gov. Ben Cayetano said yesterday he would veto a bill moving through the Legislature to break up the state's community hospital system. Governor vows to veto
bill splitting hospitalsStar-Bulletin staff
The House bill to separate the Maui hospitals out of the quasi-private Hawaii Health Systems Corp. was amended in the Senate to break it into four county regional systems at a cost of $49 million.
Supporters say Maui Memorial Hospital is the only facility that makes a profit, but the money, instead of going to expand and improve the hospital, instead goes to support hospitals on other islands.
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