The Hawaiian punch in Washington is about to get a lot stronger.
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) is taking over the gavel of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) have begun to wield the legislative clout that comes with seniority. And Barack Obama, a native son who understands the 50th state’s needs and reflects the Pacific islands’ multicultural ethos, is about to become the 44th president of the United States.
{mosads}The power shift for the Aloha State, among the nation’s smallest with 1.3 million people, is poised to win more federal money and gain influence it has long lacked.
Having the added clout could result in the federal government footing a portion of the estimated $5 billion cost for an elevated rail project approved through a voter referendum this month. With Obama headed to the White House, Akaka and Inouye may finally win the recognition for Native Hawaiians that had been opposed by the Bush administration and stalled by Republican senators. And federal money can also serve to boost the state’s year-round tourism industry and its attempts to buffer itself from rising oil costs.
“To have a president that has that background and understanding and [for Inouye] to have the most powerful position in the Congress legislatively … that combo is incredibly powerful,” said Abercrombie, a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus who emerged this Congress as a bipartisan broker on energy legislation and war funding in Iraq.
Inouye’s new post will help him increase the substantial amount of money from Washington that he and the rest of the delegation win. In fiscal 2008, Hawaii received $283 million in earmarks, or $221 per capita, the second most of any state, according to Citizens Against Government Waste. As the successor to Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as Appropriations Committee chairman, Inouye will often have the final say over other lawmakers’ earmark requests. The only state to receive more earmark money per person, Alaska, is likely to see its leverage decrease now that Sen. Ted Stevens (R) is on the verge of being ousted from the Senate and possibly going to jail.
Hawaii can also benefit from a president who understands the state’s issues. Obama, who went to high school in Honolulu and lived with his grandparents there, has already come out in support of efforts to win federal recognition for 400,000 Native Hawaiians, some of whom have pushed for sovereignty.
An Akaka-sponsored bill that would grant that recognition had passed the House but stalled in the Senate under opposition from Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration. The new administration and a larger Democratic majority in the Senate could get the issue moving again.
Another priority for the state is reducing its dependence on oil, which fuels 90 percent of Hawaiians’ electricity, said Ira Rohter, a University of Hawaii political scientist. High oil prices this summer and the troubled economy prompted Gov. Linda Lingle (R) to tell her department heads to expect 20 percent cuts in their budgets.
Abercrombie pushed for an energy bill that would allow some of the offshore oil drilling that Republicans hankered for while providing more money for renewable energy sources and coastal states. A watered-down version of the bill, which lacked the provision sending money from oil companies to states, passed the House with bipartisan support in September but stalled in the other chamber.
{mospagebreak}But legislative victories are not the only benefits of having influence in Washington. Hawaiians see an Obama presidency as great publicity. The election of a black man to the White House is symbolic for the whole country and a milestone for African-Americans. For Hawaiians, Obama shares their roots and is of mixed race, like one-fifth of the state’s population.
“It’s not just a question of [Obama] being born here,” said former Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii). “It’s also having been raised here during his formative years, having absorbed Hawaii’s view of the world.”
{mosads}That worldview informs the inclusive, “no drama” governing style preached by Obama, who has talked about appointing a Republican to his Cabinet and has reached out to former foes Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) since Election Day. The worldview will also be seen in the way Inouye manages his committee, said Abercrombie, who has developed a strong relationship with Inouye during his 20 years in Washington.
Inouye’s “first and foremost approach legislatively is to do the honorable thing, to act in a circumspect and discreet manner,” Abercrombie said.
An elevated profile can help policymakers see past the image of Hawaii as a state removed from the mainland. Just this year, when Obama vacationed there, ABC News pundit Cokie Roberts suggested he was going off to “some sort of foreign, exotic place.”
But Hawaii, one of four states where non-Hispanic whites don’t make up a majority, has undergone the trends that the rest of country is now going through.
“Hawaii has already been four decades on the path the rest of the country is embarking on right now,” said Case. “It’s a far more multiethnic, multicultural, inclusive governing approach.”
The state’s new political power may not last long and won’t come around again anytime soon. Both senators are 84 and are entering the final stages of their career. Should Inouye decide against seeking another term in 2010, he would leave the state with a power void in Washington and set off a scramble for his seat. Case said he would run if Inouye retires. Abercrombie and Gov. Lingle would be formidable candidates for the seat, too, according to Rohter.
Abercrombie, 70, is seriously considering a run for governor in two years.
But the 10-term House member didn’t want to talk about his future ambitions. He’d rather talk about the opportunity they have — and the “Hang Loose Hawaii” attitude.
“We are island people,” said Abercrombie. “We don’t survive unless we work together.”