Legislators tackle cost of living

Key measures are still alive as the crossover deadline nears

As lawmakers reach the first major deadline of the legislative session this week, dozens of key measures are still in play.

Among them are the governor's proposals to promote innovation, a constitutionally mandated tax cut, streamlining for affordable-housing projects, increased pedestrian safety and a host of other issues that will be vetted further by each side after they complete work on their own bills before exchanging them.

The crossover deadline is Thursday, although lawmakers will take up most of the bills today.

"For us, our theme this session is the cost of living in Hawaii and trying to address issues on affordability to keep the people here in Hawaii," said House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell (D, Manoa).

"Whether it's housing, alternative energy, health care or disaster preparedness, in one way or another, they all relate to addressing cost of living and making it more affordable for our people to live in Hawaii," he added.

This year's crossover will not feature two of the more controversial bills -- physician-assisted suicide and civil unions -- after they were defeated in committees earlier this year.

Bills still alive include some of those that cover Gov. Linda Lingle's proposals to shift the state's economy away from land development and toward high-tech jobs and innovation.

"We're looking at all those measures and seeing which ones rise to the top," said House Economic Development Chairman Kyle Yamashita (D, Pukalani-Ulupalakua). "We want to see what the Senate does."

Caldwell added that some of Lingle's innovation ideas are similar to proposals introduced by Democrats in the past. While Lingle's specific bills might not be alive, most of the concepts are alive in other measures that are moving.

"They're all there to move forward to the next level, to the Senate side," he said.

One of Lingle's proposals expected to come out of the Senate is a bill that would require the state Employees' Retirement System to consider investing some of its money into Hawaii venture capital opportunities.

Lingle had called for $100 million to be set aside from the fund. The Senate Ways and Means Committee deleted the specific amount, while the House Finance Committee tabled the measure altogether.

"We were troubled with requiring the ERS to invest in highly risky kinds of ventures dealing with high tech, where the failure rate is high," Caldwell said. "We didn't want to gamble with retirees' money."

Meanwhile, work also is scheduled to begin tomorrow on the biennial budget.

House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Poamoho) said he expects next week's Council on Revenues forecast to be either unchanged or revised downward.

At its previous meeting, the council had kept its predictions for modest economic growth for the rest of the 2007 fiscal year and all of 2008, but downgraded its forecast for subsequent years.

"That's why we're taking a very conservative approach right now -- very conservative," Oshiro said.