• Opening day speeches
Opening day speeches
A preview of what’s ahead in the 2004 session of the Legislature was heard yesterday at the State Capitol.
Senate majority leader Robert Bunda, D-North Shore O’ahu, and Senate minority leader Fred Hemmings, R-Windward O’ahu, Hawai’i Kai, gave the traditional opening day of the Legislature speeches.
As was expected, Bunda stuck to the Democratic Party line in his stands on education reform, an imposed cap on gasoline prices and a prescription drug plan for those in need.
Education, as predicted late last year in these pages, is surfacing as the big issue for 2004.
Bunda cited work being done within the state Department of Education in making classes smaller, increasing salaries, funding charter schools and boosting campus security, and while standing behind the status quo in the DOE.
Hemmings’ stands shoulder to shoulder with supporters of Gov. Linda Lingle, with a call for major reform to our public education system, a doing away with the gas price cap legislation and more support for business.
Hemmings was also strident in pushing for implementation of reform based on Lingle’s statewide CARE meetings that gathered opinions and information about how to improve Hawai’i’s schools at meetings held in Lihu’e and elsewhere across the state.
The two senators overlapped in their support for fighting against the sale and use of crystal meth in Hawai’i.
Hemmings called for reform of state government spending and operations in general, a theme heard often during Lingle’s gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
An across the board theme with the Senate speakers, and the House majority and minority speakers, was curtailing state spending and avoiding any tax increases.
Educational reform, fighting the war against drugs, providing prescription drugs for those without drug coverage and other state programs all need funding to exist. These plans could easily cost millions – if not tens of millions of dollars – to bring to life.
Apparently, the Legislators are counting on increased tax revenues from our growing economy to cover the perceived needs of Hawai’i’s people.
There are some dangers for Kaua’i residents as the new legislative session unfolds. There’s a chance we might face some type of stiffer tax burden if we are drawn into the funding of a light rail system in O’ahu.
This might be reflected in a boost to state excise tax charges to Kaua’i purchases, if the counties are given the right to tack on a half-percent or so to the excise tax levy here.
The Garden Island plans to monitor this Legislative session as it unfolds. Watch for updates and reports on Kaua’i-focused bills, and on statewide bills that might affect Kaua’i.
