Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 5, 1 May 1987 — On Initiative [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

On Initiative

By Clarence F.T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

For those of you who read and enjoyed my eolumn on statewide Initiative last month, let me inform you that the situation has not changed. In other words, the proposal did not fare well in this year's session of the Legislature. This has been the situation in recent years. Initiative bills have had to

run the gauntlet of the chairmen and members of the Judiciary Committees of both houses. Recently, the chairs of the House Committees have all been Democrats and anti-Initiative. Something interesting to note here is that whether it is coincidence or not, committee chairs have not been successful in getting reelected. In 1983 and 1984, former Rep. Kathleen Stanley, who was then House chair, refused to hold any hearings on Initiative. In 1985 and 1986, Rep. TerranceTomclaimed that lnitiative was not necessary because the system worked so well and the people were well represented. What he did not say was that the people were helpless if the Legislature failed to address an issue of grave eoneem to the people. In 1987, Rep. Wayne Metcalf (D, Hilo-Kaumana) claimed that the public was not sufficiently interested and no hearings were held. However, he says he may consider holding a hearing on an Initiative bill next year. On the other side of the Legislative chambers, its been a little different in the Senate where most Senate Commmittee chairs have passed Initiative measures in one form or another. However, Sen. Anthony Chang in 1985 passed a bill whieh, if it had gone all the way, would have given Hawaii the toughest Initiative law (highest percentage signatures required) in the country. Supporters who did not want the worst Initiative law in the country had to lobby against it on the Senate floor. Chang in 1986, whieh was his reelection year, passed a terrific bill out of committee but alas, by plan or eoincidence, died in Sen. Mamoru Yamasaki's (D, Wailuku-Kahului-Upcountry) Ways and Means Committee

without a hearing. Yamasaki did not have to run for reelection then but will in 1988. In 1987, Sen. Clayton Hee passed out a bill quite similar to the "good" 1986 Senate measure. It passed the Senate only to be killed in the House committee chaired by Rep. Metcalf as mentioned earlier. "Hawaii Should Have Right to Initiative" was the head used in a Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorial of Feb. 28, 1985, whieh said: "Supporters of initiative are not easily discouraged. . They will be back to try again. Someday Hawaii will get initiative, and be the better for it." This Trustee hopes that the discussion of Initiative here will help to build a level of information on issues that may be pertinent to us Hawaiians. If you happen to be one of the strong believers in the lnitiative process, let Rep. Metcalf and his constituents on the Big Island know how you feel. His Honolulu office is Room 327, Hawaii State Capitol, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. Such input into governmental processes is a right and duty we all have in the evolution of good representative government. Although politicians count on a forgetful eonstituency, remember that they have to face reelection sooner or later. By becoming well-informed on issues of significance, we ean become exemplary citizens in the so-called democratic process and do our share in molding government into an entity that is by, o/and /or the people.