The Legislature opened its 2014 session by honoring previous generations of lawmakers, and here’s hoping the elders imparted some tutelage about when legislating was less of a public display of personal ego.

Even before the opening gavels, House and Senate money committees set an imperious tone in hearings on the state budget.

House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke browbeat University of Hawaii officials for running a public service ad touting a proposed new building for the UH-Hilo pharmacy school, which the Legislature has yet to fund.

Luke accused UH of trying to pressure the Legislature and repeatedly demanded to know "whose decision was that and who should we thank for making that decision."

Is she kidding? These legislators throw their doors wide open to bepressured byspecial-interest lobbyists who deposit thousands intheir campaign funds; now their undies are in a bunch because UH uses a littlefree TV time to promote a projectit thinks worthy?

If Luke’s personal pique gets one ounce of weight in deciding the merits of the Hilo pharmacy school, we’ve got a generation of legislators who are getting way too big for their britches.

In another budget exchange, Senate Ways and Means Chairman David Ige rained rhetorical bombs on the Department of Education for what he called a "Cadillac" system to evaluate teacher performance, while Luke rudely interrupted a DOE official who tried to respond.

Teacher evaluations are key to improving our schools; they were promised by the DOE when it obtained a $75 million federal Race to the Top grant and were agreed to by the teachers in their last contract.

If by "Cadillac" Ige means a rigorousprogram to fairly evaluate teachers so DOE can reward the best, help the lagging and weed out the hopeless, that’s exactly what needs doing.

Let’s hope the legislative carping isn’t a sign that teachers are trying to worm out of evaluations they agreed to in order to get pay raises, just as they once before reneged on drug tests they agreed to in order to get pay raises.

Suspicious minds will note that the Hawaii State Teachers Association is one of the biggest donors to Hawaii political campaigns — and Ige needs its support in his underdog run for governor.

Some legislators have a reputation for getting off on lording over those who come before them, exemplified by Sen. Clayton Hee peering down at supplicants through dark glasses.

But Luke and Ige have been among the more thoughtful and respectful in their comportment.

Both rose to power as part of reform factions, and if the taste of power has so soongone to their heads, it’s a dismaying commentary on the impossibility of real reform in the self-important culture of our Legislature.