• The governor and state funding The governor and state funding Gov. Linda Lingle, perhaps buoyant on a recent poll that showed her popularity among Hawai‘i voters now greater than that of the Legislature, briefed news reporters and editors gathered
• The governor and state funding
The governor and state funding
Gov. Linda Lingle, perhaps buoyant on a recent poll that showed her popularity among Hawai‘i voters now greater than that of the Legislature, briefed news reporters and editors gathered at the State Capitol yesterday.
The governor likes to use graphs in her talks and true to her form she used the oversized boards to showcase how her plans for state revenue and spending should roll out over the next six-years.
The highlight, or lowlight — depending on how you view what she would go on to say — of the press conference was the news that she plans to recommend to the Legislature that they forego raising the pay of state workers who are members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the white collar state workers union. The raises came out of binding arbitration, and union leaders are saying it would be illegal to not give them.
Lingle’s justification for this move was a forecast that the raises, along with United Public Worker blue collar worker raises and other state worker raises, would within three years put the state some $295.8 million in the red.
Lingle did say she has a plan to cut some funds out of state programs and other areas to give a smaller raise to those workers effected by her proposed cuts.
If the Legislature rejects her plan she is saying the problem will be in the lap of the Legislature to solve.
State worker union leaders say the cuts goes against Lingle’s recent plan to give University of Hawai‘i faculty raises of around 30 percent. Lingle sees the university faculty as an economic plus to the state in justifying their raises.
The governor’s announcement comes as the Legislature nears the critical weeks of May when the legislative bills that will go on to be enacted are finalized. The Democratic-controlled Legislature has thrown a lot of curve balls at the governor, most recently a plan to cut the funding of Lingle’s tourism liaison.
In calling for a denial of the HGEA raises, the governor is attempting to help bring the power of the state executive branch up to the same level as the lawmaking branch, which is controlled by Democratic Party members, and has been for decades. The conclusion of this session will surely be seen as one in which Lingle tried to define herself and her programs in the face of fierce opposition from the majority party in the Legislature.
By rejecting the use of binding arbitration, a method she has opposed, Lingle is also drawing a line in the sand. She is taking action she feels needed in defending, and defining, her strength as the chief executive of the State of Hawai‘i.
This struggle plays into a political strategy that foreshadows the upcoming legislative election campaigns that will begin in earnest late this summer. With the recent polling in her favor, Lingle sees an opportunity to tip the balance of the Legislature a bit more towards the GOP; her brightest political hope will be to gain veto-proof power by adding more Republicans to fill the rolls of the State House.
As for the effect of the raises on the state’s budget, time will tell if an economy apparently on the upswing will bring in enough new revenue to make up the difference.
HGEA workers are likely to get raises at some level. When and how will be the final product of this latest round of political tug of war.
