LIHU‘E — There used to be a joke that it shouldn’t take an “act of Congress” to effect certain small changes. In the case of state legislative and administrative pay cuts, though, it does take an act of the Hawai‘i
LIHU‘E — There used to be a joke that it shouldn’t take an “act of Congress” to effect certain small changes.
In the case of state legislative and administrative pay cuts, though, it does take an act of the Hawai‘i Legislature.
State Rep. Mina Morita, D-Kapa‘a-Hanalei, explained that, since certain state elected and appointed officials have their salaries set by members of a salary commission, it takes an act of the Legislature, becoming law either with or without the governor’s signature, for lawmakers to cut their own salaries.
Such an unprecedented move happened during this year’s legislative session in the form of House Bill 1536, House Draft 2, Senate Draft 1, Conference Draft 1, which has been sent to Gov. Linda Lingle for her decision.
The bill would cut the salaries of members of the state Legislature, Lingle and Lt. Gov. James R. “Duke” Aiona Jr., and Lingle’s department heads, by 5 percent from what they would be as of June 30, 2009, and freeze them at that level until July 1, 2011.
Because this bill was passed and sent to Lingle in the last days of the legislative session, she has weeks to act on it but intends to sign the bill into law, as her administration supported the legislation, said Linda Smith, Lingle’s senior policy advisor.
Senior officials in Lingle’s administration “need to do their part as a result of the economy and demonstrate in a small way that they understand what others in the state are going through,” Smith said.
In addition to the salary-cut proposal, members of the state House took other steps to reduce their expenses in the sagging economy, Morita said.
Those included slashing $1 million from their own operating budget by cutting back hours when the Capitol’s air-conditioning system is operational (on at 7 a.m., off at 4:30 p.m.), scaling back numbers of full-time staff to, in Morita’s office, one, and cutting back on out-of-state travel.
In terms of other legislation, she said she is glad a proposal failed that would have cut hotel-room tax distributions to the counties. “That would have had a devastating effect on the counties, forcing them to raise taxes and fees,” she said.
Morita also said she is glad a proposal to increase the state’s general excise tax failed, though “that discussion is not completely off the table for next year.”
There was much discussion and debate on whether or not to increase the hotel-room tax, or transient accommodation tax, or the GET, “but the GET (increase) would have had a more negative effect” on the citizens of the state, she argued.
She said she voted to override Lingle’s vetoes of various other tax measures, saying the overrides were necessary to balance the state budget.
“Everything we did this session was not an easy decision,” said Morita, adding that most of the feedback she received from her constituents this session had to do with tax proposals. Some supported tax increases because they saw the alternative was cuts to needed social programs, while others were vehemently opposed to any tax increases.
In today’s times, most of the feedback comes via e-mail, she said.
Finally, the Hanalei Valley resident said she will run for re-election, despite persistent rumors that the recently completed session would be her last, and she was headed for retirement.
“I’ll take it a session at a time. I’m not running for Senate,” she said of the Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau state Senate seat currently held by Wailua’s Gary Hooser, the Democratic Senate majority leader who has announced he will run for lieutenant governor next year.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
