HONOLULU – Gov. Ben Cayetano said Friday he vetoed a bill to raise Hawaii’s age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 because the penalty in the measure was too severe. Cayetano’s action has lawmakers of both political parties talking
HONOLULU – Gov. Ben Cayetano said Friday he vetoed a bill to raise Hawaii’s age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 because the penalty in the measure was too severe.
Cayetano’s action has lawmakers of both political parties talking about a special session to vote to override the veto.
“They’ve equated this offense to a bank robbery or kidnapping, which are class A felonies” subject to a 20-year prison term, the governor said.
He noted similar concerns from Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle and the Commission on the Status of Women, “hardly people who would not care what happens to 14-year-olds.”
The age of consent bill approved in May would have made it a Class A felony of first-degree sexual assault with a prison term of up to 20 years for a person to have sex with someone he or she knows to be younger than 16, provided the age gap is not less than five years and the two are not legally married.
If the penalty for statutory rape of a 14- or 15-year-old boy or girl was a misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to a year in prison, or even a Class C felony with a five-year term, Cayetano said he might support such a measure.
“From my standpoint, I think we need to make sure the penalties are not disproportionate to the offense,” he said. “Nobody wants to be against protecting 14-year-olds, but we need to do it in a way which is just and fair.”
He urged lawmakers to study the issue more closely and check how other states deal with the age of consent before moving to override the veto.
“That’s their choice and that’s their authority under the Constitution and it’s part of the process and I would accept whatever they come up with,” Cayetano said.
The Commission on the Status of Women issued a statement Friday, urging lawmakers not to override the veto of the bill “because it is poorly devised public policy.”
“We are deeply concerned about the emotional and physical well-being of adolescents and believe that they should be well protected from sexual predators,” said Executive Director Jeanne Ohta.
“While proponents’ spin on this legislation suggests that it targets the 34-year-old male predator who is preying on 14 and 15 year olds, the bill is more likely to make a number of young adolescent males in our community into Class A felony sex offenders,” she said.
Senate Co-Majority Leader Cal Kawamoto, D-Pearl City-Waipahu, said the Senate leadership will be meeting Monday to discuss a possible override session which would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
If the session were proposed only to vote on overriding the veto in the age of consent bill, Kawamoto said he doubts it will be approved.
“That’s my gut feeling,” he said.
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-Wahiawa-Haleiwa-North Shore, expressed concern that Cayetano might also veto the funding bills for arbitrated pay raises for Hawaii Government Employees Association white-collar workers. He said that is more likely to provoke an override session, which would be the first since statehood.
The governor has delayed signing the funding bills while negotiations continue on memorandums of agreement on a “two strikes” drug policy and on reducing sick leave and vacation benefits for future state employees.
Cayetano said Friday those negotiations are going well. He noted he told HGEA leaders last month he had no intention of vetoing the pay package because the union was proceeding in good faith.
“And that’s the way it stands right now,” he said Friday.
HGEA Executive Director Russell Okata issued a statement Friday that settlements were reached for some units and negotiations were continuing on the memorandums for other units.
“We appreciate the governor for recognizing our good faith efforts and, in the face of many rumors and erroneous news reports, for keeping his word to not veto the arbitrated pay raises,” Okata said.
The governor’s use the potential veto as leverage in the talks on benefits for future workers may have been diluted with House and Senate leaders saying a veto likely would provoke an override session.
House Vice Speaker Sylvia Luke, D-Punchbowl-Pacific Heights-Nuuanu, and House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-Wahiawa-Whitmore Village, said such a veto would not stand.
“If the governor was to veto the pay bill, there would be strong support to override that veto,” Oshiro said.
Monday is the deadline for Cayetano to notify lawmakers of any vetoes.
