Another View
Fred Hemmings and Galen Fox
Putting people last
Republican leaders explain
how Democrats' veto overrides
will hurt Hawaii residentsSince the May 17 revised Council on Revenue estimates, legislators have known Hawaii faces a large budget deficit. Yet on July 8, Democratic legislators voted in lockstep to override six vetoed bills and enlarge the deficit. Their failure to balance the budget is not only illegal, it also threatens the state's ability to protect our children and elderly.
Then, in a July 16 press conference, Democrats talked up June revenue gains while ignoring the drop in July tax collections. They went on to proclaim the accuracy of their own revenue estimates, and illegally affirmed that the Legislature had "a balanced budget." The Democrats operate as if the Council on Revenues May 17 projections -- which under the Constitution dictate state spending until September -- simply do not exist.
Budget balancing is serious work. In his opening day address, Senate President Robert Bunda stated, "The biggest and most immediate hurdle we face this session is, of course, balancing the budget." In his address, House Speaker Calvin Say said he didn't mind that the governor was Republican, because "she is our governor, we need each other's help, and we must find a way to work together to meet the challenges of our time."
Well, that was then. Last week, Democrats orchestrated the most partisan special session in state history to undermine the constitutional requirement of a balanced budget. During their budget-busting override session, legislators cast every veto override vote but one -- 430 of 431 total votes on six measures in two houses -- strictly along party lines. Bunda, Say and the Democrats' partisan actions further unbalanced the budget at the very time we're challenged to match expenses with revenue.
The governor hopes to avoid the fiscal crisis that has plunged California, a state under total Democratic control, into a $38 billion bankruptcy. Governor Lingle is serious about holding the line on spending, and avoiding a fiscal disaster that will undermine education, health and welfare in Hawaii, as it has in California. Democrats are headed the wrong way, trying to push Hawaii down California's path to destruction.
The governor knows Hawaii has a $1.4 billion health and human services safety net, one of the nation's strongest. We have to keep that net in place. To do so as revenue declines, the governor must prune new, expanded and duplicate programs, as she did with her line-item vetoes, so that Hawaii supports needed programs. The Democrats' efforts to balloon the budget are both wasteful and futile. The governor cannot spend funds the state doesn't have.
In an essay in the July 10 Star-Bulletin explaining the overrides, Bunda and Say acknowledge that "the state is experiencing budget problems," but otherwise ignore that the May 17 revenue estimate binds Democrats as well as the governor to new realities. Their article never mentions either the word "deficit" or the Legislature's constitutional requirement to balance the budget.
Nor does Say note that under his leadership the House refused to end Act 221 abuses. That law, intended to aid high-tech companies, instead helped movie companies, banks, real estate firms, travel agencies, and especially their lawyers and accountants create $55 million worth of tax shelters. That's $55 million the state could use to help the elderly, support our children and create jobs.
Say and Bunda said little about the 800-lb. gorilla in the living room, the override that gives public-sector unions the binding arbitration wage settlements they love. This override has huge implications for the state. It will dictate wage increases that trip off each other like a row of dominoes, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. This is the most irresponsible override Democrats forced on Hawaii taxpayers.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano said he was "stunned" by the override. He noted that before his 2001 Civil Service Reform restored the right to strike, the pay raises arbitrators forced upon the state meant he had to "cut social programs, and that was really hard." Cayetano thought Lingle's veto of the arbitration bill was "well done."
The Star-Bulletin editorial on July 10 got it exactly right, noting that every other override mentioned by Democrats was "shibai" -- the special session was really about giving the Hawaii Government Employees Association control over collective bargaining, and collecting chits from Democrats "whose campaigns the union financed."
Bunda and Say maintain strike-induced disruptions in government services aren't "in the public interest." Yet just two years ago, they and 29 other Democrats, who this year voted for binding arbitration, supported the right to strike. No wonder their former leader is "stunned." Such a reversal in such a short period of time is shocking, even for politicians!
Most veto overrides the Star-Bulletin called "shibai" sought to unbalance the budget. All six of the governor's vetoes helped government help the people. The bill requiring helicopter ambulance service for people on all islands -- and funding for none -- may end up sending large helpings of taxpayer money to "air ambulance chasers." When lawyers successfully sue the state for not providing life-saving air ambulances, they will collect money that could have paid for education, health and welfare needs.
Democrats embraced a bill allocating $30,000 for Korean War 50th anniversary commemoration events, even though the state already had provided $90,000 and already had arranged for the final $30,000 from other sources.
Last year, Cayetano vetoed the bill putting the state auditor, an agent of the legislative branch, in charge of all executive branch financial audits. He did so because to qualify for federal funds, the executive branch must pay for independent auditors' financial audits. This override will waste taxpayer money on duplicate audits. The wasted funds could have helped the elderly and children.
Last January, Say and Bunda promised their own "new beginning." Now we know this means waste at the expense of the people. Republicans believe the people want real change, not shibai. They want government that puts people before special interests.
Sen. Fred Hemmings is the minority leader of the state Senate and Rep. Galen Fox is the minority leader of the state House of Representatives.