[ OUR OPINION ]
LAPDOGS of Hawaii's powerful public employee unions like to claim that protection of the employees is absolute because of "constitutional" reasons. That is the rationale given for rejecting Governor Lingle's proposal to strip state and county employees of health and retirement benefits if they are convicted of felony corruption. Such forfeitures are allowed under contract law and should be added to Hawaii's statutes covering state and county employees as a way of combating public corruption. Legislators are protecting
corrupt public officials
THE ISSUE Hawaii legislators have rejected a proposal by Governor Lingle to force public officials convicted of felonies to relinquish pension and health benefits.
If legislators oppose the governor's benefits-forfeiture proposal because they believe corrupt government officials should be shielded from such repercussions, they should say so. Rejecting her proposals because of nonexistent "constitutional" reasons is dishonest.
Normally, employees who are part of a retirement plan are guaranteed the benefits upon becoming vested. However, circumstances may cause forfeiture of those benefits if written into collective-bargaining agreements or pension plans. For example, as a method of enforcing company loyalty, a contract may force employees to forfeit their vested benefits if they resign to go to work for a competing company, or if they are caught giving trade secrets to the competition.
Public officials convicted of felony corruption now are fired upon being sentencing. Following through on a campaign promise, Lingle has proposed a bill requiring their forfeiture of health and pension benefits. (Under Hawaii's generous labor agreements, vested state and county employees get free health insurance for life.) House Majority Leader Scott Saiki says the Lingle proposal was rejected for constitutional reasons.
The state Constitution allows public employees to engage in collective bargaining. It doesn't mean that everything associated with that right is constitutionally protected. A statute, not the Constitution, requires that provisions of labor contracts "take precedence" over all conflicting state laws, but that statute can be changed to conform with a new law requiring forfeiture of benefits by corrupt employees.
Under the Lingle proposal, the attorney general would file a lawsuit to require a benefits forfeiture. It may be that such a forfeiture would affect only state and county employees hired or elected after the law were to take effect. Current employees may argue effectively that a forfeiture would be a breach of the understanding that existed at the time they began work for the government.
A prime message in Lingle's gubernatorial campaign last year was that integrity and trust must be restored to government. She deplored the many elected officials who abused that trust and the public officials who were convicted of corruption.
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COLOR-CODED security advisories have been the target of jokes on late-night television and around the water cooler, but they were developed to help the public gauge the level of danger. Know what to do with
the colors of security
THE ISSUE A Red Cross brochure describes how people should prepare for possible terrorist attacks.
Although in initial stages the color system did not clearly outline how people were to react, an American Red Cross brochure that is being mailed to Hawaii residents provides practical information and recommendations for individuals, families, neighborhoods, schools and businesses. While we hope no events will force us to use them, the public should be aware and prepared as with natural disasters like hurricanes or tsunamis.
The information is divided into color categories that rank the levels of threat from green for low risk to black, which would be raised when a terrorism incident has occurred in the state. Recommendations range from stocking adequate food, water and medical supplies and arranging communications and meeting places with family members to being aware of suspicious activity and reporting it to authorities. Business owners and supervisors are asked to arrange emergency plans and to make sure employees know what to do and what is expected of them.
The brochure is a disturbing reminder of the changes in American life since 9/11, but Hawaii should be ready to meet the challenges.
