From Souki to a surcharge on property taxes, Legislature makes some unorthodox moves

Happily, the Legislature is nearly finished and there is much to mull over.

For instance, two years ago, more than 6,500 Maui voters said they wanted Joe Souki to be their representative in the Legislature. Last month, the five-person state Ethics Commission said Souki must leave.

It was an unprecedented way for a member of the Legislature to get the boot. Souki left not at the direction of voters nor by a vote of fellow lawmakers, but by a separate panel taking testimony and deliberating in secret to rule that Souki admitted to “inappropriate and unwanted sexual comments, kissing, and touching,” of several women including Rachael Wong, the former director of the state Department of Human Services. The commission told Souki to “resign his position,” and he did.

The House Democratic majority’s decision not to question the ethics commission’s authority to remove legislative members is more a question of Souki not having the votes to remain a ranking legislative member or speaker than legislative independence. In other words, the more political muscle you lose, the more you are just going to lose.

Turning out Souki was one of several odd legislative happenings.

To the Legislature’s credit was the speed with which lawmakers were able to focus on the rain and flooding on Kauai. It does no good now to recall that Kauai is home to Mount Waialeale, generally considered the second wettest spot on Earth, and it takes more than Kauai’s menehunes to divert the annual torrents. But the $100 million in new state money will, hopefully, start the process of redoing Kauai’s already sketchy Hanalei infrastructure.

More troubling, however, was the raid on property tax income.

Simply put, legislators are asking voters to amend the state Constitution to allow the Legislature to put a new tax on investment real estate to “support public education.”

Of course, that sounds great. Who doesn’t think teachers and schools should have more good things and more money?

This quest for a new education tax has been right next to air conditioning in classrooms for the politically potent Hawaii State Teachers Association, but there is much risk in letting the Legislature come up with an unspecified new tax with the mission that it is just to “support public education.”

The Hawaii Tax Foundation questioned the amendment, saying the state school system “already has a gargantuan share of the state budget but is still beset with such issues as frustrated teachers and students roasting in our classrooms.”

County leaders obviously didn’t like the idea. Mike White, Maui’s Council chairman, said, “If lawmakers and the governor believe schools are underfunded, the Legislature should accept the responsibility and appropriately fund education.”

Going after investment property is a tempting target. Studies show that nearly one-third of Hawaii property taxes are paid by out-of-state property owners.

The Legislature, however, has an alarming ability to take money for one thing and use it for another. In past times of no money, the Legislature raided state employee retirement funds, money stashed away to build an airport rental car complex, and the hurricane relief fund.

If that isn’t worrisome, remember the last legislative session’s moves with the Honolulu rail tax.

There is some similarity between trusting the Legislature to do the right thing with a new open-ended tax and giving a $100 bill to a dude on a Hotel Street corner who promises to “double your money.”

Voters will only have one chance to say “no” to the tax amendment, but an infinite number of tax days to pay for saying “yes.”

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.