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Gathering Place
 By Galen Fox |
Last-minute moves ended
House session on sour noteI remember the hopeful opening-day speeches of this year's legislative session. Democrats welcomed our new governor and announced that they "get it": They had heard the people's call for change in the 2002 election. The spirit of cooperation was in the air. What a disappointing contrast to how the session ended.
The Democrats' final actions this year were both partisan and petty. During the legislative session, Democrats introduced a resolution that insulted President Bush and everyone fighting in Iraq, asking them to give aloha to Saddam Hussein as he continued his torture and killing of Iraqi citizens. Republicans fought hard against this resolution but could not outvote House Democrats.
On the last day of the session -- the same day that little Mya Williams of Waipahu wiped the tears from her mother's cheeks during a memorial service for her father, who was killed in Iraq -- Democrats deposited on each Republican legislator's desk a little quotation surrounded by a lei and signed "aloha." The quotation told us it's OK for Democrats to criticize our president when he is "wrong." Mya and her mother were attending a service in Georgia for the 3rd Infantry Division and for Sgt. Eugene Williams, who, in the ultimate way, carried aloha from Hawaii to the oppressed people of Iraq.
That final day, Democrats also showed no aloha for two good bills and a resolution. They killed the measures to avoid public debate on Act 221, a tax credit being abused by wealthy companies. Legislators are elected to debate public issues and act in the public interest. When the Democrats fear debate so much they kill good legislation, you have to ask whose interests they put first.
Under House rules, the only way Democrats could have avoided debating amendments to Act 221 was to kill an entire group of bills. So they killed a measure addressing the Hepatitis B problem in our university system. Democrats seem more concerned with stopping debate than with protecting our students' health.
Another measure they killed would have helped those who believe the government has taxed them unfairly. Currently, these people must pay the government first, then receive a Tax Department hearing. The bill would have allowed the hearing to precede payment.
Worst of all, we couldn't debate Act 221. Governor Lingle fought hard to amend Act 221. The Senate gave her the amendments she sought. But House Democrats refused to allow the Senate changes to go to conference committee. So on the final legislative day, we asked just to debate the governor's amendments as backed by the Senate. House Democrats refused.
Act 221 hurts Hawaii's economy. It allows Hollywood film companies to come to Hawaii, exploit our tax structure, then take their profits back home. The producers of "Blue Crush" came to town, used Act 221's 100 percent investment tax credit to make their movie, and went home, leaving no permanent jobs behind. If "Waterworld," the cinematic flop filmed in Kona in the early 1990s, were filmed using the Act 221 tax credit, Hawaii taxpayers would have underwritten the entire $150 million production cost!
Act 221 was intended to stimulate Hawaii's high-tech industry. Yet only 20 percent of the act's "research" tax credits have gone to qualified high-tech companies. Instead, during the next two years, Hawaii's taxpayers will give $46 million to banks, real estate, insurance, investment, travel and transportation companies the act was never intended to help.
During the same week Democrats gave $55 million to Hollywood moguls and wealthy companies, they took $80 million out of the governor's budget intended for health and human services. If actions speak louder than words, their actions beg the question, "Just whose interests do Democrats hold dear?"
After an entire legislative session of talk about serving those most in need, on the last day we put business schemers ahead of our children and the elderly -- and we did so without a word of debate.
Rep. Galen Fox is the House Republican Leader. He represents the 23rd District (Ala-Moana, Waikiki).