Hawaii has a strong Governor and a part time Legislature?

[Al Beeman]

Is the role of the Governor too strong?
For example, the Governor frequently withholds funds needed to implement duly enacted legislation claiming the need to enforce a balanced budget.

[David Shapiro]

I agree that the a fresh look at the balance of power between the governor and the Legislature should be a high priority for a ConCon. However, withholding funds, which virtually every chief executive in the country has the power to do, is a small part of the picture.

I'm not sure the strong governor-weak Legislature premise holds anymore. The Legislature, which has always had a lot of power over all facets of island life despite its part-time status, has spent the six sessions since a Republican governor was elected passing bills and constitutional amendments stripping her powers and increasing their own. This power shuffling is mostly politics, lacking big-picture thinking, and you can be sure that the next Democratic governor will be as unhappy with the handcuffs as the incumbent.

The original Constitution balanced the power between the executive and legislative branch reasonably well. A ConCon would be an excellent forum to look at whether the balance has gotten out of whack one way or the other.