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State lawmakers on the closing day of the 2013 legislative session revived two bills requiring greater disclosure from super PACs, although both appeared dead earlier in the week as a result of what legislators described as poor communication.
Lawmakers on Thursday adjourned for the year, touting the achievements of a "collaborative" session — under new leadership in each chamber — that saw the state fund public worker health benefits, replenish cash reserves, fund tourism and set up a framework for early-childhood education.
"You put all of this together and we look at having continued prosperity for the state and continue to have the relatively low unemployment and a continued rise in income," House Speaker Joe Souki (D, Waihee-Waiehu-Wailuku) told reporters in his office.
Senate President Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Moanalua-Halawa) also touted the rejection of any new taxes or tax increases, although lawmakers did make permanent a 2-percentage-point increase in the hotel room tax, leaving it at 9.25 percent. That was scheduled to expire in two years.
"I thought it was important that we shore up our foundation and we work on what we already have before looking at many new programs," Kim said.
She said she was pleased that lawmakers resurrectedthe campaign disclosure proposals.
Votes on both bills were deferred Tuesday after a last-minute disagreement on whether two similar measures should be passed and sent to the governor. Leaders blamed the unexpected bloodletting on poor communication.
"Evidently, wisdom has prevailed, and the House has reconsidered its pre-emptive action," Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua), the Senate’s Judiciary and labor chairman, said Thursday. "The Senate recommendation is that both bills, Senate Bill 31 and House Bill 1147, although similar, be passed and rely on the advice of the attorney general to give counsel to the governor which of the two bills is in the interest of the people of Hawaii."
The Senate bill would impose new reporting requirements on super PACs. The House measure would require super PACs to disclose top donors in political advertisements.
"I think the measures speak for themselves," said Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Lanikai-Waimanalo), author of the House bill. "It’s definitely a step forward for transparency in the elections process, which is critical to a healthy democracy here in Hawaii."
Among the other bills approved Thursday was a proposal requiring all front- and back-seat passengers to be restrained by a seat belt assembly or child passenger restraint while a vehicle is operating on a public highway.
House and Senate leaders praised their colleagues for the work done in getting the state budget completed early, clearing the way for appropriations bills to be finished by an internal deadline of 6 p.m. on the final day of conference committee.
The two-year state budget — $11.8 billion in fiscal year 2014, $11.9 billion in fiscal year 2015 — placed $50 million in the hurricane relief fund and $50 million in the rainy day fund to replenish the state’s cash reserves. The budget sets aside money over the next two years to address the unfunded liability in the public worker health care fund, while a separate bill would put the state and counties on an annual payment schedule for the future.
Rep. Sylvia Luke (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuuanu) said she and her Senate counterpart, Ways and Means Chairman David Ige (D, Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea), made a commitment to look at the budget without any horse-trading.
"When you do that, you look at things in a substantive way," she said. "It really helps make the discussions and the decisions flow."
Rep. Aaron Ling Johanson (R, Fort Shafter-Moanalua Gardens-Aliamanu), House minority leader, thanked the new Democratic leadership for reaching out and including the chamber’s seven House Republicans in its alliance that ousted longtime House Speaker Rep. Calvin Say. Republicans were granted co-chairmanships of three key House committees.
"We think that there are many good pieces of legislation that emanated out of this body that this entire chamber, as well as the Senate, can be proud of," Johanson said in a floor speech.
Lawmakers counted the failure of a proposal to raise the minimum wage among the misses this session that they expect to work on next year.
"We’re going to look back at this session, and if there’s any weak spots, that would be one of them," said Sen. Brickwood Galuteria (D, Kakaako-McCully-Waikiki), the Senate’s majority leader.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie had sought a $2 increase in the minimum wage, to $9.25 an hour, in his State of the State speech, but lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise, primarily on the tip credit — the amount below minimum wage that employers can pay for gratuity-intensive jobs such as valets, waiters and waitresses.
The Senate had sought a tip credit of $2, while the House had settled on 35 cents. The current tip credit is 25 cents.
Overall, Abercrombie said he was pleased with the results of the 2013 session, particularly with the work done on his key initiative for early-childhood education.
Lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment for 2014 letting voters decide whether to allow the use of public funds for private preschool education. But lawmakers converted the governor’s $25 million school readiness proposal, which was supposed to be the first step of his early-learning initiative, into a $6 million expansion of Preschool Open Doors, an existing child care program.
"There were a lot of tough issues, hard choices to face, tough decisions to make, and that means that the legislative process is exactly that: It’s an unfolding of opinion and conversation and political dynamic," Abercrombie told reporters. "With these hard choices and tough decisions, how it worked out, I think, was terrific.
"I couldn’t be more pleased that some of the initiatives that our administration was associated with were treated respectfully and thoroughly by the Legislature, and the solutions they came up with are the things that I’m going to implement as governor."
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AP