Governor calls summit in wake of attacks HONOLULU – Governor Ben Cayetano invited leaders of the state’s major industries and government officials to a meeting today on the impact the terrorists attacks could have on Hawaii’s economy and what to
Governor calls summit in wake of attacks
HONOLULU – Governor Ben Cayetano invited leaders of the state’s major industries and government officials to a meeting today on the impact the terrorists attacks could have on Hawaii’s economy and what to do about it.
The meeting comes amid growing concern over reduced air travel and layoffs in the tourism industry, including airlines and hotels.
Aloha Airlines plans to cut its interisland flights from 150 to 113 beginning next Monday. Other airlines serving Hawai’i and the mainland have either made or are pondering reduced service, and resorts and hotels in Hawai’i, faced with canceled vacation plans, have begun telling employees of layoffs until tourism rebounds.
On Kaua’i and elsewhere, the visitor industry was expecting a slower-than-normal fall and early winter because of sagging economies on the mainland and in Japan. That slowdown could be worsened by the fallout from the terrorist attacks last week on the East Coast, officials say.
Invited to today’s meeting were leaders in the banking, retail and tourism industries, as well as the county mayors and legislative leaders, said Cayetano’s press secretary, Kim Murakawa.
The governor began making calls last week to invite the various officials and has already met with some, she said.
Today’s meeting will be the first step in a larger effort to ensure the stability of the state’s economy, Murakawa said.
The meeting was to be closed to the news media, but Murakawa said Cayetano would hold a news conference on Thursday to report the results.
Hawaii Republican Party chairwoman Linda Lingle said Cayetano should travel to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to approve financial aid for the airline industry.
Lingle said the governor should emphasize the devastating economic impact the collapse of the airline industry would have on Hawai’i.
Lingle, who is running for governor next year, also said Cayetano should call the Legislature into an emergency special session to adopt a resolution calling on Congress to support the airline industry.
The airlines are the most important element of the visitor industry “because if people can’t get here, the issue of hotels, ground transportation, restaurants and retail doesn’t even come into play,” Lingle said. “Regardless of what happens nationally in the coming days, we know our economy will be hit and hit hard.”
A state senator Tuesday urged Cayetano to request a report from the Council of Revenues by the end of September for him and the Legislature to review.
“The precipitous drop short-term and also possibly long-term in the tourist industry could result in huge revenue losses to the state,” said Sen. Fred Hemmings (D-Kailua).
Hemmings also recommended waiving the 4 percent general excise tax that Hawai’i-based airlines pay the state and speeding up already-approved state capital improvement projects. Should efforts could help the “imperiled” airlines and bolster the state economy, he said.
Black Tuesday
Latest developments
– Four people arrested as material witnesses. FBI has detained at least 75 people for questioning and is seeking nearly 200 more.
– Hundreds of Islamic clerics gather in Kabul, Afghanistan, to discuss conditions for extraditing suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden to country other than the United States.
– Attorney General John Ashcroft says new rules will allow suspected illegal immigrants to be detained for 48 hours, instead of 24 hours. He says new anti-terrorism task force will have links to every major U.S. city.
– Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says administration preparing sustained offensive against terrorists and countries that support them.
n Wall Street posts modest slump one day after the Dow’s biggest one-day point drop in history.
– Bush administration preparing relief package for nation’s hard-hit airline industry.
– Boeing Co. announces plans to lay off as many as 30,000 commercial airplane workers by the end of next year as a result of an expected slowdown in orders caused by last week’s attacks.
– Bush signs into law a $40 billion package to rebuild after last week’s terrorist attacks. He also puts his signature to the congressional resolution authorizing him to use military force against those responsible.
– For first time in its 56-year history, United Nations postpones General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders, scheduled to begin next week.
