Price tag, not issues, seen as best way to influence fall voters

The battle over whether or not to call Hawai'i's first Constitutional Convention in 30 years officially started with the launch of competing studies by the Legislature and the Lingle administration on how much a ConCon would cost.

Legislators, who generally oppose a ConCon as an invasion of their turf, seem determined in their study to run up the potential cost to dissuade voters from approving a convention.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who supports a ConCon as another chance to achieve her initiatives rejected by the Legislature, such as breaking up the statewide school system, countered with a study group led by Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona that will almost certainly come in with lower cost estimates.

The Constitution requires that voters be polled every 10 years on whether to call a ConCon, and the cost is expected to be a key debating point when the issue is decided in the November election.

Studies have shown that a majority of voters become skeptical when the likely cost passes $10 million and a solid wall of opposition forms at $15 million.

The last Constitutional Convention in 1978, which had 102 salaried delegates working out of borrowed state and federal offices, cost a little over $2 million — about $6.5 million in today's dollars if adjusted for inflation.

State House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, who introduced House Concurrent Resolution 231 ordering a cost study by the Legislative Reference Bureau, said the Aiona task force is unnecessary and just means "spending more money and duplicating efforts."

But the administration accuses legislators of limiting the LRB to looking only at a "Cadillac" convention without considering cheaper alternatives or allowing public input in the review. "It essentially puts in place a flawed process that will result in unnecessarily high cost projections," Aiona said.

The legislative resolution rejects the idea of simply adjusting 1978 costs for inflation and makes assumptions that all but assure high cost estimates.

Lawmakers envision 102 ConCon delegates receiving the same pay and per diem as legislators and having some 360 staff positions — essentially the same as in 1978.

The resolution directs legislative researchers to increase the inflation-adjusted 1978 costs by assuming the ConCon will work out of leased office space instead of free government buildings and adding expenses for election costs and voter education.

ConCon advocates complain that the Legislature's study excludes options to control costs by again using free government facilities rather than leased space and adjusting the number of delegates or their compensation and staffing.

Former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who helped found the online discussion site HawaiiConCon.org, said the competing cost studies represent "the inevitable politicization of the debate and an overfocus on cost."

"ConCon opponents have determined their best argument to persuade voters to reject a ConCon is not its merits but that it will cost too much," Case said.

"Supporters (and I'm one) say let's decide this on its merits, and that cost is a red herring, worth it and controllable."

Case, who served in the Legislature for a decade, said his former colleagues who resist a ConCon are "mostly about maintaining power and control and preserving the status quo."

He said lawmakers and the special interests they primarily represent "generally believe things are fine as is, fear loss of power and control, and view a ConCon as a major threat on both fronts."

"That's way too bad, because we all stand to benefit from the big-picture, once-in-a-generation look at how things are and how they should be that only a Con Con will afford us," he said.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at volcanicash.honadvblogs.com.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.