Democrats pull plug
on suicide measureLingle's plan for local school
boards fails for a second time
Physician-assisted suicide is dead and a proposal for locally elected school boards is on life support after yesterday's voting deadline for the House and Senate to swap bills at the halfway point of the session.
Democratic leaders in the House withdrew a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide (House Bill 862, House Draft 1).
"It's not going to come back," said Rep. Scott Saiki (D, Moiliili-Kaimuki). "We didn't have 26 votes on the House side."
There was no similar proposal in the Senate.
Yesterday was the second time Gov. Linda Lingle's proposal to replace the statewide Board of Education with seven locally elected school boards failed in the House.
The House rejected Lingle's proposal (HB 2331) on Feb. 20, and House Education Chairman Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Waipahu) said he found no reason to vote on it a second time.
"This is a giant step backwards," he said.
Lingle's proposal would have needed voter approval of an amendment to the Hawaii Constitution.
GOP lawmakers tried to replace the contents of another educational reform measure (HB 33, HD2) that was up for a vote with Lingle's proposal. The bill proposes to give the schools superintendent and the school board the kind of decision-making autonomy now exercised by the University of Hawaii president and Board of Regents.
"Well, we want to give autonomy to seven or more of these boards of education," said Rep. Guy Ontai (R, Waipahu-Mililani).
The Republican effort failed after heated and largely partisan debate. House Speaker Calvin Say (D, St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise) cautioned GOP members about making partisan references.
When Rep. Mark Moses (R, Kalaeloa-Royal Kunia) said the Democrats are blocking voters from voicing their opinions on Lingle's proposal, Say noted: "This particular debate on this floor amendment has been a very lively, productive and healthy debate on local school boards which is the administration's position. So where am I as the chair and speaker of this House denying you and the general public, the right for free and open debate on this particular issue."
Senators did not consider locally elected school boards in the first half of the legislative session but Senate Education Chairman Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D, Salt Lake-Foster Village) has promised to give Lingle's proposal a hearing in the second half.
House lawmakers approved HB 2184, HD1, to expand the Board of Education to 17 members, each elected in a board district covering three state House districts.
The House approved the school autonomy bill, and the majority Democrat's education reform measure (HB 2002, HD2), which allocates school funding according to the number of students and their special needs; gives principals and school community councils more decision-making authority; provides funding for more teachers in grades K-2 to reduce class sizes; and requires the Department of Education to establish a single, unified school calendar starting with the 2006-2007 school year.
In the Senate, lawmakers passed a bill that would require Lingle to justify all salaries and job hires for state deputy directors. The measure (Senate Bill 3180) was hailed by Democrats as an effort at "efficiency and accountability," while Republicans called the proposal part of a pattern to strip Lingle of power.
Lingle had criticized the bill saying her appointees represent a needed change in government.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa-Moiliili) said the bill is a reflection of the Democratic majority having problems communicating with the Republican Lingle administration.
"In the past we have had a relatively open relationship with the administration and the previous administrations have been a little more forthcoming," Taniguchi said.
Another bill (SB 3069) that would give control of the state Capitol to a legislative committee instead of the Lingle administration was also criticized by Republicans who called it a raid on administrative powers.
"There is a pattern here of taking power, discretion and scrutiny away from the executive," Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) complained.
Both bills passed with only the five Republicans in the 25-member Senate voting no.
The Senate also gave its support to the latest version of a gas-cap bill (SB 3193) designed to control the wholesale price of regular unleaded gasoline by requiring that it be no higher than the national average.
Sen. Ron Menor (D, Mililani), the bill's sponsor, said Hawaii's gas prices have been as high as 61 cents more than the national average.
"The oil companies don't want this because they know it will cut into their massive profits, this is a pro-consumer measure," Menor said.
Slom, however, argued that the bill will "guarantee that Hawaii gas prices remain high."
"This is insane legislation," he said.