THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH

Dear Editor,

Your September 1998 issue of West Oahu Current contains a very negative and inaccurate letter concerning the process and facts relating to our very successful capture of a tremendous portion of the State Capitol Improvements Projects (CIP) budget.

The author wrote, "During the 1998 legislative session, Rep. Moses requested funding for a number of school projects in our area. However, the State House of Representatives included NONE of his funding requests in the House budget."

Now for the truth!

Everyone should be aware that The Budget is the House Budget. The Budget starts in House and ends in the House. The Budget is a House document! The very first draft of the Budget did not contain all the funding I requested or desired for our District, but it did contain the following:

Kapolei Middle School $18,265,000 Construction, Phase 1

$ 1,000,000 Construction, Phase 2

$ 500,000 Appurtenances

Ewa Elementary $ 3,200,000 Admin. Bldg. & Library

Royal Kunia Elementary $ 1,500,000 Plan and Design, Phase 1

Kapolei Library $ 509,000 Phase 1

Kapolei Family Court $ 2,633,000 Design

North South Road $19,000,000

Kunia Road Widening $ 1,500,000

Kunia Intersection Improvements $ 2,250,000

Farrington Highway Medial Strip $ 7,000,000

Fort Weaver Road Landscaping $ 800,000

---------------

$58,157,000

It would have been unconscionable for me to turn my back on the great amounts for desired projects we had funded, and give up on getting more by voting NO on this draft. Instead, I knew it was my duty, and what you expected of me, to stay involved in the process and to fight with all my strength to get even more for our community. You see, as is apparently not known to my opponent or her advisors, is that if you vote NO on a House measure, you are outside the process to improve on that measure as it moves through committees on the way to final passage.

The House Finance Chair promised we would get all the funding needed for Kapolei Middle School, and my requested funding for the High School, but not until next session. This was unacceptable to me.

Therefore, on March 10, 1998 during the first Budget debate, I rose on the House floor and said:

"Experts much more knowledgeable than I, have indicated the ground breaking for the Kapolei High School, which is not currently funded in the budget, must be done by next February or we'll not be able to get the students in there that will be coming out of the Kapolei Middle School."

"So, what I urge is that the Finance Chair, and my colleagues, at least appropriate a small amount so groundbreaking can occur by February 1999, so that the graduating class of the Middle School will be accommodated in the Kapolei High School. That high school basically, with a different name, was promised since 1962, Mr. Speaker."

In the end we got the $4,000,000 I requested for The Kapolei High School in my CAPITOL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE FORTY-SECOND REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT, HOUSE BILL 3104, and we regained all the funding for the Middle School. In fact we obtained approximately a quarter of a Billion dollars for projects in or serving our area, residents, and children. Except for my Bills, House Bill 3104 and House Bill 3266, No other Capitol Improvements Projects request has been submitted in at least the past four years, in either the House or the Senate, requesting any actual sum of money for the Kapolei Middle School or Kapolei High School.

All the funding gained I personally lobbied very hard for and supported through the committees on which I serve (Education, Higher Education, Transportation, and Labor and Public Employment), on the House Floor, and any other place and time available. I met with the Governor and the Senate President at Washington place on March 12, 1998, asked for and received their personal support to restore the reduced funding and to support my new funding requests. I also spoke with the Speaker and Vice Speaker of the House, the Finance Chair, Senate Ways and Means Chairs, and the Education Chairs of both the Senate and the House, and nearly all of the other 75 members of the Legislature, and by the time for final passage of the Budget I had their support. I again thank the Governor and all my colleagues for their support and sacrifice in supporting our needs.

It's all a matter of record. Talk is cheap. Actions can be verified.

I have never lied to or mislead you. My Father taught me that Honesty, Integrity, and Dedication are a way of life, and that rumors, half truths, and innuendoes have a way of coming up behind you and biting you. Before he died, My Father again told me something he deeply believed and wanted me to always follow. He told me that the only thing you come into this world with is your name, and the only thing you take with you when you leave is your name, so don't dirty it.

Mahalo,

Representative Mark Moses