Lingle outlines
pro-business proposalsThe governor seeks tax incentive
s for new health insurers and
workers' comp reform
Last year, Gov. Linda Lingle said Hawaii was "open for business."
Yesterday, Lingle said Hawaii "is ready to start doing business."
She cited a change in attitude by the Labor Department toward business and a pending change to consult with businesses on workplace violations.
Speaking before the annual Small Business Hawaii conference at the Ala Moana Hotel, the governor ticked off her pro-business legislation wish list.
Lingle said her administration is working to increase competition in the Hawaii marketplace.
"It is a goal of this administration to increase the number of alternatives you have," Lingle told the sympathetic audience of several hundred.
For instance, Lingle said, the state wants to expand the number of prepaid health insurance firms doing business in Hawaii by dropping the premium tax for new for-profit companies coming to Hawaii.
Nonprofit health insurers do not have to pay the tax, giving firms such as Kaiser and HMSA an advantage in the marketplace.
By dropping the 4 percent tax for new health insurers, it would encourage more competition, according to the Lingle administration. The proposal failed to win legislative approval last year.
Lingle singled out the work of Nelson Befitel, Labor Department director, as a key part of her effort to reform the business climate.
"The labor director has one of the toughest jobs, dealing with a department that saw you as the enemy," Lingle told the audience of business owners.
"Clearly, the Labor Department felt their job was to protect workers from you 'bad' business people, and this was a major mind-change for government," Lingle said.
Part of that change is being handled by administration policy and not state law, Lingle added, explaining that she wants the Labor Department to "consult with businesses" before issuing fines for workplace violations.
Also under consideration is a proposal to change the workers' compensation regulations so that the state Insurance Division could investigate workers' compensation fraud in the same way that the insurance division investigates auto insurance fraud.
"We want to bring down the costs and reduce the amount of litigation, and we want to have serious, aggressive investigations of fraud," Lingle said.