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On Politics Richard Borreca |
What a difference one
legislative session makesBack you go to Jan. 15 as the Democratic- controlled state Legislature opens under growing war clouds.
The 76 legislators had twin challenges of operating under predictions of a shrinking budget and learning how to function with a new Republican administration.
There's some instruction to be gleaned from checking the opening day calls to action by the Democratic majority and the actual product delivered.
To spur the economy, both Senate President Robert Bunda, (D, Wahiawa-Pupukea) and House Speaker Calvin Say (D, St. Louis Heights-Wilhemina Rise) looked to the state to provide tax credits.
"The Legislature agreed that tax credits can provide significant economic stimulation, and this year we'll have an opportunity to submit them to a governor who has publicly expressed her support for such incentives," said Bunda.
Say agreed, noting that "tax incentives can be a vital part of an overall economic strategy."
Although he warned that "the people and companies who use them must also be held to a standard," one of the thorny issues this session would turn out to be Say's defense of Act 221, the high-tech tax credit, which both the Senate and Governor Lingle wanted to amend, saying it costs too much money and is used as a tax dodge.
And while economic projections did turn down, the concern about a dramatic falloff from the Iraq war have not yet materialized.
Bunda tried to push a plan to use public-private financing to rebuild Aloha Stadium, which is expected to cost more to repair than it cost to build, but the plan drifted away into a call for a study.
Bunda was able to get Lingle's support for a school drug-testing plan, but that also was left to the unsure world of proposed studies.
Like Bunda, Say also found that the words of January have a difficult time translating into the legislation of April and May. Say repeated his call for a new effort to clean up campaign spending laws. He said: "Corporations and special interest groups cannot be allowed to use their campaign contributions to unduly influence the people's business." But reforms were blocked and the resulting legislation, is being viewed as "incremental."
Both Bunda and Say discovered that dealing with Lingle was unlike any other legislative-executive exchange. Lingle's moderate views, such as attacking tax credits for businesses misusing Act 221 and supporting tax relief for the very poorest, made her sound more like George McGovern than George Bush, although she remained a strong GOP-booster.
The resulting equation to be calculated is how much the public will demand of this year's Legislature and how much political muscle-flexing Lingle will be able to exercise with both next year's Legislature and with voters.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.