Friday night lights
By ddepledge
A frustrated state House Speaker Calvin Say (D-St. Louis Heights, Wilhelmina Rise, Palolo Valley) lit into several lobbyists and industry representatives tonight for their opposition to a bill that would lift general-excise tax exemptions on certain business activities.
The bill, similar to a proposal discarded at the end of last session, is one of the main options House lawmakers are considering to help reduce a projected two-year deficit of $700 million.
One by one, Say called the lobbyists back before the House Finance Committee for lectures about special interest treatment. The speaker said none of the opponents of the bill offered an alternative remedy to the deficit, and he asked them whether they would prefer a 1 percentage point increase in the GET instead.
“All you folks looked at was just for your own interests,” Say scolded.
Although a few of the lobbyists were brave enough to push back — including one representative from a nonprofit who told speaker that an end to their exemption could mean a reduction in social services that the state would end up paying for anyway — most simply took their medicine.
Political Radar
February 26th, 2011 at 1:37 am
What’s the point of calling people out in public? It’s no contest since few lobbyists would push back knowing that in the end it’s a losing battle.
February 26th, 2011 at 2:57 am
“What’s the point of calling people out in public?”
Getting the news to cover it. Shedding light on the lobbying to make it harder for them to get there way by shaming legislators who might back them.
February 26th, 2011 at 9:42 am
Taxing non-profits?. They are always giving things to ‘those dirty homeless people’. Now they can give to the HGEA instead.
February 26th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
charles, it highlights the gravity of the budget situation and shows that people, industries, interests, etc. shouldn’t just be looking out for themselves. Most of the kinds of people who are always railing against government and its workers are more than willing to take tax credits and exemptions while simultaneously bemoaning the “fact” that government is a wasteful monetary black hole filled with lazy employees unwilling to give up anything. Always ready to point out the problems, but never willing to help with the solution.
Speaker Say isn’t the kind of guy who seeks the spotlight or goes for the dramatic, so for him to do this just shows he’s serious about the budget and the way things are done.
February 26th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Hallelujah! Come on guys, we are undergoing economic turmoil. Wake up and smell the coffee. This should actually be a bi-partisan issue since both parties locally and nationally are proclaiming the sake of equal taxation “for everyone to carry the burden”. Look at all of the excuses to pass along the Bush tax cuts!
Step out of your box and take a look at the whole picture for a second. Our state only has ONE industry. Yes the good economic driver of Tourism supported us since before Statehood but the world is now more accessible and Hawaii loses. If our state leadership, the new-dud of an Administration which fails to seek economic drivers or alternatives aside from Tourism the only alternative is to have the 1.4 million people of our good state to carry the burden. Poor Cal and the Dems in the Legislature have their hands tied because Neil’s “New Day” is already a re-run–and could potentially be worse than Lingle! The Legislature has taxed all of us individually, they’re being forced to go against their biggest supporters–the unions, and businesses got burned in 2009 and 2010…..
The Non-profits go around every year begging for more cash despite the evidence of recession everywhere. People and organizations sallivate now at the Rainy Day fund and they don’t even know how good they all got it with their GET-exemptions! I say the Legislature should hold them to the fire like they did to all of us! Everyone needs to be accountable for every single dollar they get these days. Even churches, social services organizations, chairtable organizations, etc. Otherwise you develop corrupted cash cows people run to…
If you’re going to tax us fairly, then Do IT! I know I’m taking my burden and not crying–so the good charities, churches, and wonderful social services we have need to suck it up too and stop crying! This may just be that NEW DAY in Hawaii– a fair one where we all get taxed and all have to carry our weight in all of our canoes.
February 26th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
It seems to me the target of speaker’s ire should be the majority caucus. Ultimately, they vote on the bills and if they want to tax non-profits, they will.
To expect any interest group to publicly say, “Please tax me” is expecting a bit much.
February 26th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Shame on Speaker Say. People have EVERY RIGHT to testify as they see fit on any bill that is of concern to them.
If he doesn’t want to hear testimony in opposition to bills he wants to push through, then he needs to retire. End of story.
February 27th, 2011 at 2:54 am
@OutsideObserver, I wasn’t there but I didn’t read that Say was telling the lobbyists that they had no right to testify.
Is that what you heard?
February 28th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
@OutsideObserver: Before you say shame on Speaker Say maybe you should take a step back and reread the article. Better yet were you there in the hearing or watching the televised broadcast? If you have a problem and continue to only give opposition to a solution offered without offering an alternative solution to replace the one you just slammed in the trash can how are you helping to alleviate the existing problem? If you answered with you’re not, you’re exactly right. That’s what Speaker Say was trying to illustrate. Not that he didn’t want to hear comments in opposition but that alternative solutions should be offered. A majority of the public expect better of our Legislators but that same majority do little else besides complain.
February 28th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
I couldn’t attend the hearing or watch the live broadcast (no archived broadcast seems to be available yet online), but heard from several colleagues who attended. Their account is similar to what’s reported above but they were really taken aback by his hostility towards those offered testimony in opposition to HB 799. They saw his treatment of opposing testifiers as intimidating, definitely not democratic — as in democracy. My colleagues were not impressed by his behavior.
IMO, neither the fact that there’s a large deficit or that many sectors of the public don’t want to participate in reducing it justifies Speaker Say’s behavior, as reported. I can understand that it must be very difficult to balance the public’s demands & viewpoints as a legislator, never mind making the darned budget balance. Based on what occurred at last Friday’s hearing, though, it sounds as if he’s no longer able to listen to dissent or respond to it with grace or reason. If so, then it’s time for him to retire. Let him be replaced by a person who’s truly interested in working with all sectors of the public, not just those he or she agrees with.