Don't revive flawed bills -- fix them

THE ISSUE The Legislature will meet in a special session on Tuesday to decide whether to override gubernatorial vetoes.

LEGISLATORS appear poised on Tuesday to override most if not all of Gov. Linda Lingle's vetoes, including those based on technical flaws that might boomerang on the state. Those cited by the attorney general as containing such flaws should not be placed in the same category as those about which the Republican governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature disagree on issues.

Lingle cited 33 bills last month that she declared vulnerable to vetoes. Among them are measures that would make the nation's worst workers compensation program even worse and create an "ingenuity" company outside of the executive branch that could make the state liable for mistakes by its scientists and inventors.

Among the thorniest issues is whether parents who abandon newborn babies can be shielded from criminal prosecution. Lingle was the first governor four years ago to veto such a bill, which is law in 47 states. In her veto message then, she said she had learned "that any good that might be accomplished by this bill is likely to be outweighed by the harm that it would cause." Her veto was upheld.

Lingle indicated that she will veto several bills that might have resulted from good intentions but contain flaws that "may subject the state to litigation or negatively impact the public" because of "legal or technical" flaws. In one measure, she urged legislators to uphold her veto and approve the same bill in a special session after striking a provision that appears to violate the state Constitution. Legislators should find a way to accommodate her requests on noncontroversial concerns.

She also noted fiscal problems in a bill that would subsidize time-counting devices at crosswalks with $3 million from the state highway fund instead of the general fund.