Week in Review: Gearing Up for the ‘Ledge’
You don’t need to be at the Capitol to feel the buzz. The House leadership may still be in flux and the continuing state budget crisis unresolved, but there’s tangible excitement growing in advance of the big day: Wednesday is when the 2011 Hawaii Legislature session begins.
Four of five days this week, Civil Beat had at least two reporter-hosts covering news from the Capitol. This was also the second week that state departments appeared before the state Senate Ways and Means Committee for informational budget briefings, and to pass along wish lists. Lawmakers appeared anxious to get specific budget details from Gov. Neil Abercrombie‘s administration. Here are some of the week’s highlights:
- Topsy-Turvy at the ‘Ledge’: As Chad Blair reported, from the fifth floor down to the chamber level, there are new faces, new leadership in the Senate and still unresolved leadership in the House.
- Chasing Amy: Lawmakers Press Asselbaye on Budget: On Friday, Abercrombie’s chief of staff she spent an hour explaining the budget of the governor’s office, and taking criticism for failing to hire labor negotiators when contract negotiations are imminent.
- Senators Grill Public Safety Director on Excessive Overtime Use, Auditor’s Report: A legislative budget briefing turned into a grilling, with Hawaii Department of Public Safety interim Director Jodie Maesaka-Hirata taking heat for recent reports of excessive overtime use and a critical state auditor’s report.
- Hawaii’s Human Services Department Says It’s Nearing ‘Stimulus Cliff’ : A decrease in stimulus funding and higher enrollment means the Hawaii Department of Human Services is asking for big funding increases: 16 percent and 20 percent over the next two years.
- A/C In All Hawaii Schools: When Hell Freezes Over: An interesting request from the Department of Education: Air-conditioned classrooms. But at $1.5 billion, ditching tradewinds for AC will cost more than the department’s entire operating budget of roughly $1.4 billion.
We also updated our readers on our continuing efforts to seek more government transparency through public records:
- Honolulu Police Union Wants Entire Force to Be Secret : John Temple writes about how Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha is prepared to release the majority of names of officers as required by law, but because the police union disagrees, he says he will ask Legislature for guidance.
- Government Agencies — Other Than Honolulu Police — Share Salaries: We also reported how other Hawaii government agencies tried to withhold the salaries of their employees but ultimately acknowledged that they must comply with the law.
From federal court, Adrienne LaFrance brought us new updates on a long-running story Hawaii is deeply familiar with: justice for victims of deceased Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
In a way, reporting on the landmark human rights case was a fitting end to the week, given that we’ll be celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. On Monday, we’ll publish essays from several Hawaii residents who wrote about the meaning of the holiday in a modern — and regional — context. We hope you’ll check back!
