With the end of the legislative session I was looking forward to focusing on other issues around our state. But among the several fiascoes, the one involving the First Responders Technology Campus needs a little light shined upon it.

This project was funded in the budget bill, which is not unusual. But quietly funding a project that has been clearly rejected by the normal democratic process is unacceptable.

The final budget bill was problematic in many ways, and we saw a number of legislators voting against it due to its shockingly poor process. For the majority party, voting against the budget bill is almost unheard of. So many bills died in the chaos at the end of session, but the budget bill was especially interesting. 

The budget bill was not finished by the deadline, and the “leadership” insisted that members vote on it anyway, even though many important expenditures were still blank. That is, they voted on a budget bill that they had not read, because it wasn’t written yet!

The details, such as hundreds of millions of dollars here and there, were filled in later. This is gut and replace in the extreme, and it is possibly unconstitutional. The Legislature could have extended the session to complete its important business instead of the farce of voting on a bill that was incomplete, with big money at stake. 

The final worksheets for the budget were released on May 15, while the legislature voted on it May 1 and the session ended on May 4. 

This leaves room for a lot of funny business. 

The urgent needs of the people of Hawaii are ignored, and the blatant corruption gets worse and worse.  

A bill to fund a First Responders Technology Campus had died during session due to lack of support. Interestingly, even the Honolulu Police Department was not in support, even though it would be the main beneficiary.

Public input was against it, due to the loss of valuable ag land and the massive waste of money. The included proposed hotel on ag land is unconstitutional. Even the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board was silent and did not support it.

It is simply not needed. 

But Sen. Donavan Dela Cruz does not take no for an answer when it comes to spending huge chunks of money in his own district of Wahiawa, whether the project is useful or not. So he singlehandedly inserted funds in the budget after it was passed, to include $50 million for the first steps in developing the campus.

The budget bill lists $50 million for the Hawaii Technology Development Corp., without explanation. It is understood that this is for the first increments of the campus, even though the campus is not mentioned. The campus is very poorly defined, but includes the use of 200 acres of agricultural land for a massive development including a hotel, swimming pool and training facilities. 

If the First Responders Technology Campus is built, the cost of living in the area would rise as many more people would need housing nearby. Since it is on Oahu it would not help outer island first responders, who could not afford to live there while training. 

It has been estimated that the campus will cost between $300 million and $900 million. The location is a stranded parcel, and will need at least $150 million just to provide access to the parcel with roads, water, power and sewer.

Now we all know that government projects that take many years will increase in cost before they are finished, usually by a factor of two or three (for reference, see rail). So we are talking about over a billion dollars for something no one needs. There has been no indication that federal money will be available to help.

When people around the state are asked what is most needed, we usually hear affordable housing, and to address homelessness. When asked what services we need more of, answers include teachers, doctors and nurses, mental health services, and hospital capacity. No one says “training facilities for first responders.””

When one talks to police, fire and EMTs about what is needed, they also don’t mention a training facility. What they need is better pay, better benefits and affordable housing, like most people. 

Even if we train first responders better with such a new facility, will they stay here in Hawaii if affordable housing is lacking, and there are not enough teachers for our schools? Or will we lose them, like our teachers and doctors, to areas where life is affordable? 

So we must ask, where should we be spending massive amounts of public monies? Should we spend it on what’s actually needed and urgent, or an unneeded boondoggle in a powerful senator’s district? Several hundred million dollars would go a long way to address affordable housing, assist with homelessness, and give first responders better pay. 

The fact that someone completely without ethics like Dela Cruz continues to abuse the public purse and our democratic process is absolutely outrageous. But he is encouraged to do so by Senate President Ron Kouchi and Vice President Michelle Kidani, the so-called “leadership” which allows this to continue.

To be sure, the House has its share of dirty business, such as killing the term limits bill without a vote, thanks to Rep. David Tarnas and his handler, Speaker Scott Saiki. But this particular abuse is down to Dela Cruz and his Senate enablers. 

This year’s Legislature failed on so many levels. On the hugely important promised major ethics reforms, it failed on term limits, clean elections, sunshine laws for the Legislature and citizen initiative. It failed to clean up its own disgraceful processes such as nepotism, the dirty business of conference committees, and transparency of legislation. 

On other issues, it failed for the umpteenth time to address illegal fireworks, cockfighting, flavored tobacco marketed to kids, underfunded schools and hospitals, and developing a local food system. And the governor’s urgent initiatives for addressing homelessness and affordable housing were given minimal support despite a strong mandate from the voters to finally get serious about our biggest problems. 

I highlight this one bit of dirty business because it embodies so much of what’s wrong. One powerful legislator pours huge quantities of our tax dollars into his district, reaps hidden benefits from it, and is enabled by leadership over and over again. The money being spent is not useful to our society and takes away funds and land from what we really need. The urgent needs of the people of Hawaii are ignored, and the blatant corruption gets worse and worse.          

This was supposed to be the year of ethics reform at the Legislature, after the envelopes of cash, the prison sentences, and the many corruption scandals throughout our state. Instead we got business as usual, and it is outrageous.