Despite dramatic pleas from harbor users and a strong push by House Speaker Calvin Say, the Legislature appears unlikely to do anything major this year to improve our aging harbor facilities.

That's the wrong gameplan. This inaction increases Hawai'i's vulnerability on a variety of fronts, including port security, maintaining an adequate supply of goods for our booming economy and adapting to changing waterfront demands, where industrial, commercial and recreational uses compete.

Given the years of neglect of our harbors, the Legislature must take action this year.

This should include clearing up jurisdictional confusion over harbor management and setting aside money to begin long-delayed physical improvements.

The reason behind the inaction appears to be the massive scale of the problem — users claim more than $600 million in improvements are needed — and an unnecessary reluctance to raise wharfage fees in an election year.

There is also a feeling that the state should move slowly until competing uses, including residential, recreational, retail and commercial, can be fully analyzed.

Yet those users, recently organized as the Hawai'i Harbor Users Group, are in the forefront in calling for higher wharfage fees, the basic assessment charged by the state for use of its docks. And it's important to recognize that any increased fee would inevitably be passed on to end-users.

But something needs to be done. Unfortunately, over the years our harbor system became somewhat ignored by the state Transportation Department, with money and attention lavished instead on the airports and our highways.

With container traffic expected to nearly double by the year 2020 and new maritime uses — such as the cruise ship industry, along with a planned inter-island ferry — fresh attention is being focused on the harbors.

Rep. Say has proposed several bills that would untangle jurisdictional issues along the harborfront and protect industrial uses. Unfortunately, most appear stuck this session.

One measure that remains viable focuses on overlapping jurisdiction at key Piers 1 and 2, where much cargo, including foreign cargo, is unloaded.

Those piers are now under the control of the Honolulu Community Development Authority (whose primary task is the redevelopment of Kaka'ako).

Say's bill would remove the HCDA and place the piers directly under the control of the Department of Transportation and the Foreign Trade Zone division — a much more logical fit. The piers should be under the direct jurisdiction of the agencies who will be their direct users for the foreseeable future, and that's the DOT and the Foreign Trade Zone division.

The issue of wharfage fees is also critical here. Rates have not been increased since 1987, which seems almost inexcusable considering the growth in business and the glaring need for repairs and expansion.

Since the harbors are self-funded, the state is unable to borrow the money it needs for improvements without an increase in wharfage fees.

The Legislature should increase wharfage fees this year. This should happen in addition to a long-term study of harbor financing that is being conducted both by the state and by private users.

There's no question that traditional maritime users of the harbors have had to make room in recent years for other uses. The Aloha Tower complex is an example of commercial and retail uses moving into what was once a gritty dockside environment.

This shift has been a healthy one, bringing new attention and action to the harbor and reawakening Honolulu's awareness of this important asset at its door front.

But ultimately, and most importantly, the harbors are our lifeline — the entry point for more than 90 percent of all goods and materials entering the state.

Let's hope lawmakers realize that and push through sensible bills that would dramatically step up the pace of harbor improvements and clarify jurisdictional issues that have been lingering far too long.