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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Major issues for new term appear clear

Legislature 2006:
 •  The House
 •  The Senate

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Government Writer

June Oda, office manager for Senate President Robert Bunda, makes room for one of many floral arrangements that arrived ahead of today's start of the legislative session. The roses at center were sent by the Fukuoka Prefecture Assembly marking the 25th anniversary of the sister-state relationship with Hawai'i.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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KEEPING TRACK

www.capitol.hawaii.gov — On the Hawai'i Legislature site, you can track bills and resolutions, access hearing notices, search state laws and find all sorts of other information that will help you participate in the legislative process.

www.hawaii.gov/lrb — The Legislative Reference Bureau assists the Legislature by providing impartial research and consultation. Among its many services, the bureau offers its reports online and can help in researching and answering questions of a legislative, legal or governmental nature.

www.hawaii.gov/lrb/par — The site for the Legislature's Public Access Room offers information to help foster public participation, from a legislative directory to a guide on how a bill becomes law, as well as key phone numbers and Web links to the Legislature-on-TV schedule, Hawai'i Revised Statutes and more.

www.honoluluadvertiser.com — For updates on legislative action, links to other key Web sites, an archive of our reporting on this year's Legislature and a list of state lawmakers.

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TV COVERAGE TODAY

'Olelo Community Television will provide live coverage of the Legislature's opening day today, with broadcasts from the Senate chamber beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Channel 53 and from the House chamber at 10 a.m. on Channel 52.

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Tax relief, affordable housing and other pocketbook issues are on many residents' minds as the Legislature opens this morning.

They will be on lawmakers' minds, too, as the Legislature convenes the second half of its 23rd session. Democratic and Republican leaders will deliver speeches highlighting their agendas for the term, which will stretch through the beginning of May.

Proposals already announced by politicians make it clear that many of their top priorities mirror what The Advertiser found in a random sampling of opinions among readers and other members of the public.

Education — including the limited options for early education — is a hot topic, especially among parents. Homelessness also ranks high among issues that members of the public hope lawmakers will address this year.

Physician Willie Parker, 43, said he hopes legislators will consider issues that help the greatest number of people as they decide how to use a $574 million budget surplus.

"A budget is a moral document," Parker said. "It says what the priorities are. Let's make sure your priorities are properly ordered."

Parker thinks some of the surplus should shore up the public schools. Some should also go toward affordable housing, which soaring prices have made an issue even for those well above the poverty level, he said.

"People who are traditionally middle-class are being pressed out of some of the most basic things, like being able to own a home," Parker said.

Dealing with affordable housing would also be a step toward addressing homelessness. "(Lawmakers) need to be mindful that it is our responsibility to take care of everyone here, not just the taxpayers," he said.

Taxes are on many people's minds as elected officials consider whether part of the state's surplus should be returned to taxpayers, either as a rebate, by increasing the standard deduction or by expanding the lower tax brackets.

"I think that tax is probably the most important issue," said Beverly Davis, a retired psychiatric nurse instructor.

Davis supports tax relief at least for the poor and wants the Legislature to consider improving services for low-income residents and the elderly with "anything that affects the people who are marginalized."

She also wants to see more money spent on education and thinks increasing pay for teachers is a good place to start and more critical than repair and maintenance at the public schools. Ideally, however, she said, "they should do both."

Account administrator Jo Madiro, 37, sees value in physical improvements at the schools. "We should have some funding for the dilapidated buildings," she said.

Yolanda Amerson, 36, a state-employed social worker, said she also wants to see an increase in the number of qualified teachers.

As the mother of a 15-month-old boy, Amerson is also keenly interested in childcare and early education. Middle-income families do not qualify for financial aid or government-sponsored programs that provide services for low-income children, and the remaining choices are limited and expensive.

Some parents feel as if they are working just to pay for childcare, she said.

Ross Izumigawa said one way to deal with the affordable housing issue is by continuing the Hula Mae program, which helps first-time homebuyers.

"The expiration of the Hula Mae program (this month) means 'affordable housing' is again unaffordable because of rising interest rates," he wrote. "Immediate action on the Hula Mae program can continue to help families realize home ownership, even in today's housing market."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.