Long-term effects seen in override decisions

Binding arbitration, auditor bills called far-reaching

The Maui News
Thursday, July 10, 2003

By ILIMA LOOMIS
Staff Writer

WAILUKU — Maui legislators said Wednesday that six bills passed on votes to override Gov. Linda Lingle's vetoes could have some far-reaching effects on state policies.

A bill that would resolve state labor disputes with binding arbitration instead of strikes, and another that would make the state auditor more financially independent, could change the way the government works, lawmakers said.

Funding-related bills passed on override won't ensure the programs will go forward — the governor could refuse to spend the money — but were considered a "symbolic victory" by Democrat legislators.

Voting on the six overrides was along party lines, and while some lawmakers complained of partisanship, Maui's delegation expected to continue working cooperatively together.

Democratic Sen. J. Kalani English, whose district includes Upcountry, East Maui, Lanai and Molokai, said the most far-reaching of the bills would probably be the one expanding the independence of the state auditor.

"It allows the auditor to actually audit departments, to go in on her own and charge (the cost) back to them. That's always been a problem in the past, the funding of the audits," he said.

But veteran Republican Rep. Chris Halford, whose district is South Maui, said the bill was flawed in the way it funded audits as a charge against the department being audited. 

"The legislative auditor is an employee of the legislative branch of government and should be funded in the legislative budget," he said, adding that the bill would make it harder for the state executive branch to initiate audits.

Rep. Kika Bukoski, a Republican representing Upcountry, was skeptical of a bill to resolve state labor disputes with binding arbitration rather than strikes, saying he supported the concept of the proposal but was concerned the bill would apply to all state workers, not just the most essential ones.

Freshman Rep. Brian Blundell, a Republican representing West Maui, also felt the bill would have negative consequences, saying that giving workers the right to strike gives them more incentive to bargain in good faith during labor negotiations.

"Because salaries are one of the largest expenditures the state has, I think this is definitely not going to lower the cost of salaries," he said.

But other members of Maui's legislative delegation saw the bill as a positive.

"I think it will strike the appropriate balance between management and labor, and also ensure we don't have a devastating workers strike," said Sen. Roz Baker, whose 5th District includes West and South Maui.

Lawmakers also had different perspectives on spending bills, but agreed the overrides — including $3.6 million for nonprofit health and human service agencies, $30,000 for a Korean War veterans memorial, and an air ambulance system to be launched on Maui — could be moot, depending on the governor's actions.

Overriding Lingle's veto of the spending bills amounted to "giving the governor a second chance," even though she could still choose not to release the funding, acknowledged Sen. Shan Tsutsui, a freshman Democrat representing Central Maui. He said that passing the air ambulance legislation over Lingle's veto was the most significant override, because so many Maui lawmakers, from both parties, and at the state and county level, had worked to develop the proposal for a medical helicopter service.

"We do know the governor can restrict the funds, but we just wanted her to have the tool. She needs this tool, if the economy does improve, to fund the service," he said.

Republican lawmakers raised some valid concerns about the bill, Rep. Joe Souki said, but those problems could be corrected.

"We have time to go back and make an amendment, but in the meantime, it's a symbolic victory to keep it alive," he said. Souki, the elder statesman in the Maui legislative delegation, represents the 8th District that includes Waihee, Waikapu, Wailuku and Kahului areas. 

But Blundell, noting that funding for the ambulance wasn't scheduled to be spent for another year, said the bill should have been reworked, improved and reintroduced for approval in the 2004 legislative session.

"It's putting us in liability," he said. 

Halford agreed, saying that because the bill establishes a statewide air ambulance system but provides no money at all for the first year and doesn't offer the service outside Maui County, the state could be open to lawsuits.

"I don't know the extent of that liability," he said. "We'll know when the lawsuits come in."

Altogether, the spending overrides weren't helpful to the state's finances, Blundell said.

"It is throwing the budget that we passed in May out of balance," he said.

Lawmakers of both parties said they hoped the partisan voting on Tuesday's overrides wouldn't affect their working relationships, saying they appreciated that members of different parties held different political philosophies.

But some also expressed frustration that politics seemed to have played a strong role in the special session.

"This override session was very partisan, very political and not practical," said Halford, who felt that the majority party should have been more open to amending bills in future legislative sessions, rather than passing them outright.

"The majority overrode bills without addressing the flaws and mistakes in the bills," he said.

He said Maui's legislative delegation has strong party ties but is usually united on issues that benefit Maui County.

Baker said that all of Maui's lawmakers understand that sometimes they will disagree. "But you do it on an issue-by-issue basis and then you move on."

"The natural tenseness of different political philosophies," added Souki. "That's what makes politics what it is."

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