With eight months remaining on the job, Gov. Ben Cayetano said he will leave his 28 years of public service knowing he has done much to help people. Cayetano bets history
will be kindBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comSome of the things Cayetano said he is most proud of are putting more Hawaiians on homestead lands than any other governor, building the highest number of affordable rentals since statehood, cutting taxes and making some structural changes in collective-bargaining agreements with public worker unions.
"I think that when there is someone who can objectively look at the record that we've put together and take into account the context or the circumstances in which we've done some of these things, then I think we'll, on paper, have a good report card," Cayetano said.
The governor explained his biggest regret was not having a greater influence on the state Department of Education. While he campaigned as the education governor, once he was elected Cayetano said he found he could not do much to effect change within the DOE -- except to cut its budget.
In other news this week at the state Capitol:
>> Gas price regulation: State officials said there is no good economic reason for Hawaii consumers to pay the highest gas prices in the nation.
State Attorney General Earl Anzai told legislators this week that price regulation is needed to fix a broken gasoline market in Hawaii. The governor said he supports the plan if it is fair to the oil companies as well.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that ties Hawaii gas prices to a mixture of different West Coast prices. The result would be a 20-cent reduction in local gas prices, on average, while giving the oil companies a profit of 10 to 12 cents per gallon.
>> UH Foundation: University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle defended his use of money from the UH Foundation, the university's fund-raising arm, to entertain donors at a Janet Jackson concert at Aloha Stadium.
Dobelle said it was an appropriate expenditure for entertaining and educating benefactors. Senate Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa) has introduced a resolution asking for an audit of the foundation, including whether money is being diverted for private use.
>> New prison: State officials are looking at building a new 1,100-bed prison in Halawa Valley next to the existing 1,200-bed correctional facility. The state called for proposals this week to design and build the facility to help alleviate continued prison overcrowding. Gov. Cayetano said the idea is the best one yet for building a new prison here.
>> Union health plans: The state Senate, which is on the verge of a reorganization of its leadership, is nearly split over whether the unions should be allowed once again to operate a separate, voluntary health plan for their 13,000 members.
The state Legislature approved a bill last year that eliminates union-run health funds in favor of a single state health plan.
But 11 of 25 senators who voted against that bill last year led an effort this week to successfully recall a bill from the Senate Labor Committee that allows public employee unions to create voluntary employee beneficiary association trusts.
Senate Bill 2961, Senate Draft 1, however, will face a difficult time gaining support in the state House, which endured a similar recall this week that was rejected by a majority of the 51 members.
>> Traffic cameras: The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the city and state alleging they are violating privacy laws by releasing motorists' personal information to the private company operating the traffic camera program.
The Hawaii chapter of the ACLU wants to prevent the use of motorists' Social Security numbers, which appear on licenses issued before January 2001, from being given to the company.
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