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On Politics Richard Borreca |
Politics buzzes
below the surface
Call it the iceberg season. There's a lot going on, but all below the surface.In terms of government policy and political strategy, the Lingle administration has the most work to do.
Clearly banking on having more clout in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate, Republican Gov. Linda Lingle had hoped to push her own initiatives and also modify existing state laws such as the gasoline price cap and the bottle bill. But voters bounced six GOP incumbents in the general election, leaving Lingle with only 15 GOP votes out of 76 in the 2005 Legislature.
Still she needs to draft a state budget, the first one completely prepared by her own cabinet and staff. With the economy booming, Lingle's demands for "fiscal discipline" will find few disciples in a state that has gone underfunded, undermaintained and understaffed for more than a decade.
Politically, Lingle has not acknowledged any need for a mid-term course correction.
Across Punchbowl Street at Honolulu Hale, Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann is just as quiet and perhaps even busier than the state. He is assembling a new cabinet for the first new city administration in a decade. As much as a budget surplus delights the state, municipal money woes will plague Hannemann's first years as mayor. The cabinet he is assembling will be forced to decide how to much to cut, not how much more to give city residents.
A nearly three-year campaign ended this month with Hannemann winning by only 1,400 votes, a margin so slight that he must be dogged by the knowledge that whenever he walks into a room, half of the people wanted someone else to show up. If he wants to build more political capital, he will have to shine a constant spotlight on his programs.
The final part of this political iceberg, the Legislature is almost submerged.
Democrats control all the legislative options. With the ability to override any of Lingle's vetoes, the Democrats have complete responsibility to address the problems of transportation, education, crime and housing.
The Senate organized easily, giving Sen. Robert Bunda the presidency for a fifth year. The major chairmanships remained the same, but so far there has been no indication of any major problems the Senate would address.
Over in the House, veteran Rep. Calvin Say returns as speaker for his seventh year and any changes in committee chairmanships would be to accommodate the increased number of Democrats passing through the legislative halls.
If there will be more to the upcoming session than today's appearance of only a change in the embroidery, that also is not yet apparent.