As the 2022 state Legislature ends, it might be tempting to stamp the session as pau, finished, but that would be a mistake.
In this election year, a number of players now jump in or will be dragged into the performance.
First up is Gov. David Ige, who is ending his final year in his second four-year term as governor. He and his administration are charged with reviewing the bills passed and deciding what to sign into law, to allow to go without signature, or to veto.
One bill that had become something of an unpassed hardy perennial — minimum wage — has finally been approved and now is before Ige. It calls for a minimum pay increase to $18 by 2028. It clearly gets the support from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, but has been forced to contend with criticism if not outright attacks from the local business community. So how will support for minimum wage now matter in the elections? Business will know who won’t support them, but for liberals and progressives, minimum wage is no longer a rallying point.
Few remember past victories when they are out looking for new causes, but the minimum wage won’t be done until Ige signs it into law, so there is one more battle.
Happily for lawmakers, another way to solve a state problem is to put a “billion” in front of it.
So House Speaker Scott Saiki, after riding financial crisis after crisis, can say he and Finance Committee Chairwoman Rep. Sylvia Luke knew how far to push state spending.
For the long-time legislative pair, the winning number is one billion.
So Saiki and Luke can point to their bundled spending to show, as Saiki called it, “a billion-dollar housing package.”
Lumping into the package was money for Hawaiian Homes beneficiaries and programs, money for families earning less than $100,000 a year, the homeless and a tax rebate totaling $250 million.
“Hundreds of thousands of people will have opportunity and a better chance in Hawaii,” Saiki said in his closing day speech.
Along with the money, the Legislature also tossed out some decisions that are more controversial.
Regulation of telescopes on Mauna Kea, a spot viewed as sacred to Native Hawaiians, is a decision that is not a compromise that settles all disagreement.
Finally, the Legislature gave approval, without any clear guidance, to spending $350 million in state funding to continue replacing the condemned Aloha Stadium facility. Specifically what will happen and when it will happen are still questions for the Legislature to answer in the future and to defend this election year.
