PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

THOSE WHO GET HELP SHOULD TAKE DRUG TESTS

My family and I are struggling to make ends meet. Like many people in this state and country, I work hard and do the best I can to make a living.

As a musician I find it very difficult to find work, but I don't give up trying. We pay all taxes, fees and levies from both the state and federal governments. I retired from the Army. Even my retirement is taxed. The only thing we do not pay taxes on is my small Veterans Administration disability.

I have a problem helping people sit on their butts. People who receive government assistance should be required to take a drug test to qualify. They should then take random drug tests to continue such assistance.

I have nothing against helping others get back on their feet. I do have a problem with my taxes being used to allow people to sit around doing nothing. Can you imagine how much the government would save if people had to pass a drug test to receive assistance?

The savings could be used to improve our schools and infrastructure.

PRIVACY RIGHTS

DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS MAY VIOLATE DOE RULES

Your editorial about drug-sniffing dogs in public schools (Jan. 25) may leave the impression that a student's right to privacy has and will continue to erode.

This is incorrect. The courts have clearly said that students do not give up their rights at the schoolyard gate.

While on the federal level school searches are governed by a reasonableness standard rather than probable cause, here in Hawai'i our state Constitution may provide a remedy to schoolwide, suspicionless searches. Unlike most other states, our Constitution has a right to privacy that is explicitly broader than that of the U.S. Constitution. This means that the state Legislature has an affirmative obligation to protect this right for everyone in Hawai'i.

Additionally, the current administrative rules for the Department of Education expressly prohibit random searches.

Thus, it is possible that the DOE's current pilot program is in violation of its own rules. To be clear, the ACLU has no quarrel to using individualized suspicion to single out a student for breaking the rules.

What the ACLU does object to is government policies and practices that subject entire groups of innocent individuals to overly broad tactics to find or deter the guilty few.

The ACLU will continue the fight to uphold this longstanding principle.

DLNR BUDGET

FISHERY ENFORCEMENT IS URGENTLY NEEDED

As a recreational fisher, I am very much in favor of the proposed increase in the Department of Land and Natural Resources budget that includes the hiring of 40 more enforcement officers.

We cannot afford to allow our natural reef environment to deteriorate further from overfishing, netting and other abuses that have occurred because of a lack of fisheries management and protection.

I lived and fished in New Zealand for almost two decades, and when people break the law there they often have boats confiscated and are levied huge fines. Even in American Samoa, there is a net ban and better coral reef protection.

I've been fishing and diving in Hawai'i's ocean since the early 1960s, and I can say without a doubt that our inshore fisheries are in a state of serious depletion. If we want to fish forever, we need to act now to save our marine life.

We have reached the point where strict fisheries management and enforcement is necessary. I hope that the Hawai'i Legislature will have the courage and fortitude to properly address this sad situation by passing the proposed enforcement budget and by taking further action that will result in better protection of our valuable ocean resources.

MORE ENFORCEMENT, REGULATIONS NEEDED

In response to The Advertiser article, "Plan to boost conservation enforcement gains allies" (Feb. 6), I agree with the groups mentioned in the story.

It is imperative that we have a strong enforcement arm within DLNR if we ever want our nearshore waters to recover.

In addition to enforcement, we need stronger regulations against indiscriminate fishing methods such as lay gill netting. As a former lay gill netter on the Windward side of O'ahu, my former husband and I switched out our linen nets for the more modern sugi, or monofilament lay net, which meant that we could catch more fish in less time. And in a mere 10 years, from 1962 to 1972, I noticed a difference in the health of our nearshore reefs.

We cannot allow this decline to continue. Hawai'i's natural resources deserve our highest protection and care. This is why substantial funding is a must.

Peter Young is working to make enforcement a priority. He has demonstrated the type of leadership that will get the job done. He is working diligently with the public to conserve our natural resources and has taken much-needed steps toward increasing the department's enforcement budget. Let's work together to care for our resources!

BUDGET SURPLUS

REBATE WOULD BE PROOF OF WISE STEWARDSHIP

Parkinson's Second Law: Expenditures rise to meet income.

Anyone looking at the behavior of our Legislature can see the truth in this. One problem: Mr. Parkinson was speaking of individuals who earned their own money. The dollars our Legislature spends belong to the citizens of this state, not to the government.

It is not the Legislature's job to spend money simply because it is available, or to fund every need or wish. Its job is to provide necessary basic services and to do so efficiently.

Let me ask: What are our reasonable obligations to the poor and the homeless? Why should we entrust still more money to the same Department of Education that has failed us for years? What logic allows the public employee unions a virtual veto over our state spending priorities?

The mandated tax refund has less to do with returning dollars than it has to do with giving the public proof of the state's responsible fiscal policies and its wise stewardship of tax money.

Our Legislature should make some hard decisions, disappoint a few supplicants and give back the money.