Kaua’i’s Democrats in the state Legislature agreed with so much of Hawai’i’s Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s State of the State address yesterday, it is hard to see where the Republicans end and Democrats begin. Kaua’i’s Democrats in the state Legislature
Kaua’i’s Democrats in the state Legislature agreed with so much of Hawai’i’s Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s State of the State address yesterday, it is hard to see where the Republicans end and Democrats begin.
Kaua’i’s Democrats in the state Legislature applauded Lingle’s speech yesterday, and said her top priorities were theirs: fixing public-school education and fighting drug use and abuse.
But while the initiatives Lingle proposed in her speech are important, the Kaua’i lawmakers said the challenge will be securing funding for her initiatives while balancing a budget.
The legislators also said that while they agreed on the governor’s priorities, they differed on how to fix the problems of education.
“I applaud her for her speech and wanting to address the issues she put forth,” said state Rep. Ezra Kanoho, D-Lihu’e-Koloa, from his O’ahu office yesterday. “We will be working with her, because these are our priorities as well.”
“I think she made it clear,” said state Rep. Bertha Kawakami, D-West Kaua’i-Ni’ihau. “I appreciated her vision. She was open.”
“I think we’re close. We all agree on the important, important issues,” she added.
“I was happy to see that most of the governor’s initiatives were things the Legislature is already working on,” said state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua’i-Ni’ihau.
“We are on track with most of the policy agenda. Bills I’ve seen and co-sponsored respond to many of the governor’s priorities,” such as education issues like cutting bureaucracy and getting more money into the schools themselves.
However, some of the proposals Lingle suggested will have a tough time getting funding, the legislators agreed.
“There’s no way to do everything” she proposed and still have a balanced budget, Kanoho said. Instead, the Legislature must establish priorities and see if “we can do all of those things within a balanced budget.”
Finding funding is always one of the problems the Legislature faces, said Hooser.
“The biggest challenge that came out of the speech is expanding funding for parks, health care, and also proposed tax cuts,” said the senator.
“The challenge is finding the money to spend more and cut taxes” at the same time.
“Good and worthwhile initiatives such as” giving low-income Hawai’i residents and military people fighting in Iraq freedom from paying income tax would be hard to do, especially with trying to raise spending for other worthwhile proposals, Hooser said.
“Fortunately,” he added, “the economy is picking up,” so more money could be spent to fund some of the governor’s and legislature’s proposals.
“I think we’re on the same wavelength. It’s a matter of coming together to do the best job for the people,” said Kawakami.
And it’s the coming together to compromise on details that will be the crux of the 2004 state Legislative session.
Kanoho added that, while he agreed that education is a priority, he disagreed on the way to fix it.
Both the Democrats and Republicans agree that more money needs to be spent by the schools themselves.
Lingle has proposed creating localized school boards that, she believes, would put more money into the schools themselves and create more accountability on a local level.
Democratic legislators are not completely sold on the idea.
“I disagree that (school boards) alone is going to do it,” said Kanoho. “It would be a detriment rather than a plus for schools, and to principals. We need to give more responsibility and accountability to district superintendents and principals.”
“We need first to identify the problems, namely getting the $7,000 or $8,000 (spent by the state on each pupil) to each of the schools,” he added.
“The jury’s still out on the school-board issue,” said Hooser, adding that many of the other educational initiatives proposed by Lingle are already making their way through the Legislature, including a bill he co-sponsored which adds additional incentives to teachers who continue training.
“It’s unreasonable to expect us to agree on every issue,” Hooser explained. “Neither one of us should expect either side to just rubber stamp” bills.
“It’s time to bring concrete results,” said Kawakami. As the governor said, “we need to look ahead. We need to do the best possible job for the people of our state,” Kawakami concluded.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
