Privatization: House Democrats Kill Government Reform

Last night, in the closest floor vote of this Legislative session thus far, on a vote of 23-27, House Democrats killed a proposed privatization amendment to HB 620, HD 2, which would have returned the bill to its original form.

As originally drafted by the Cayetano Administration, the provisions of HB 620 allowed the government to use private companies to perform public functions if the company can deliver such services at a lower cost with the same or higher level of service. Even though Governor Cayetano and all of the county mayors supported the proposed privatization amendment, only four Democrats voted with the entire Republican Caucus to reform Hawaii government and allow for the privatization of government services.

Rep. Charles K. Djou declared, "Privatization is a useful tool that allows our state and counties to provide a higher level of service at a lower cost to taxpayers. By voting to uphold the status quo, House Democrats once again cater to the special interest of public worker unions at the expense of our community effectively costing this state millions in taxpayer dollars."

The battle over privatization is not over, however. The House will still have the opportunity to amend the Senate's watered-down privatization bill, which similarly maintains the status quo.

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