THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            157
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO REVIEW AND IDENTIFY FISCALLY-RELATED
    POWERS CONFERRED UPON OR ASSUMED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
    SINCE 1987 THAT MAY BE RECLAIMED BY THE LEGISLATURE.


 1        WHEREAS, in the American system of government, a
 2   fundamental tenet of democracy is the separation of powers
 3   between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of
 4   government; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, in the United States' as well as in Hawaii's
 7   model of democracy, the power to make appropriations is a power
 8   which is vested exclusively in the legislative branch; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Hawaii states
11   that "No public money shall be expended except pursuant to
12   appropriations made by law"; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, this is the Legislature's "power of the purse,"
15   and perhaps more than any other power, it is this power of the
16   purse that is the hallmark of the Legislature's authority and
17   independence; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, Hawaii's constitutional provision is based on
20   similarly decisive language in the U.S. Constitution which
21   declares "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in
22   consequence of appropriations made by law"; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Hawaii conveys
25   to the Legislature a dominant role in fiscal affairs, but over
26   time, that dominant role has apparently shifted to the
27   executive branch; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, the basic and constant issue debated upon between
30   the legislative and executive branches is the safeguarding and
31   assertion of legislative authority and independence versus the
32   need or desire for flexibility and freedom from legislative
33   controls on the part of the executive branch; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, under the rationale of the need for flexibility,
36   the executive branch has assumed increasingly more

 
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 1   discretionary authority on spending matters; and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, the executive branch has exercised substantial
 4   discretionary authority as to how much can be spent on the
 5   various programs of state government and how those programs and
 6   projects are to be financed; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, for example, although there is a large pool of
 9   CIP projects which will go through the life cycle of being
10   proposed, authorized, and lapsed, only a fraction of the
11   projects in the CIP pool will ever be constructed; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, because the CIP pool is much larger than the
14   State's implementation capacity, the executive branch has the
15   ability to pick and choose its projects, thereby usurping the
16   Legislature's authority to designate which CIP projects are
17   appropriated for and actually implemented; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, examples of flexibility in capital improvements
20   financing include utilizing special fund cash, instead of
21   revenue bonds, for harbors capital improvements; special fund
22   cash, instead of revenue bonds, for Hawaiian Home Lands
23   projects; and special fund cash, instead of general obligation
24   reimbursable bonds, for highways, harbors, boating, land
25   development, or economic development projects; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, this means that in spite of the method of funding
28   specified by the Legislature for capital improvements in the
29   appropriations acts, the administration has considerable
30   latitude to utilize cash from the general funds as well as cash
31   from the various special funds; and
32   
33        WHEREAS, another example of increased discretionary
34   authority is the Governor's authority to transfer
35   appropriations from one program to another, one of the most
36   enduring of the flexibility provisions in the General
37   Appropriations Act; and
38   
39        WHEREAS, the General Appropriations Act also customarily
40   provides discretionary authority to allow the Governor to
41   transfer positions; and
42   

 
 
 
 
 
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 1        WHEREAS, it follows that if our form of government is to
 2   work properly, the Legislature's power to make appropriations
 3   should not be diminished or frustrated by the executive
 4   branch's power to execute those appropriations; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that there is a serious
 7   imbalance in executive-legislative fiscal relations, one not
 8   intended by the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, a dominant role in fiscal affairs by the
11   Legislature is absolutely necessary for representative
12   government and the system of checks-and-balances to work
13   properly: and
14   
15        WHEREAS, in order for the Legislature to reassert its
16   dominant role in fiscal matters, the trend in favor of
17   executive flexibility and discretionary authority must be
18   reviewed; now, therefore,
19   
20        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
21   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
22   Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to
23   review and identify fiscally-related powers conferred upon or
24   assumed by the executive branch since 1987 that may be
25   reclaimed or reasserted by the Legislature; and
26   
27        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report its
28   findings to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to
29   the 2000 regular session; and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
32   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor.
33 
34 
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36                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________