The Cook Political Report, which tracks political campaigns nationally, has shifted the May special election to fill out the remainder of former congressman Neil Abercrombie’s term from leaning Democratic to a toss up.

Cook analysts first had the race in urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District as likely Democratic but now consider it more competitive.

Former congressman Ed Case, state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa -- both Democrats -- and Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou -- a Republican -- are the leading candidates.

From the report:

As we noted in last week’s Hawaii rundown, the unique winner-take-all rules of the all-mail special election race to fill the seat of gubernatorial candidate Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI-01) create a low hurdle for Republican Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou to clear in a race against two Democrats. Now, there is genuine concern among Democrats that while Djou is up on air with appealing intro ads that don’t mention his party affiliation, neither state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa nor former Rep. Ed Case are running great campaigns. Case may enjoy an early lead, but he also has the least money and the race is sure to tighten. This has the makings of a genuinely competitive three way race, and President Obama’s 70 percent share of the vote here – this is his native seat – belies this district’s willingness to vote for the right kind of Republican. Hawaii voters will mail in ballots between April 30th and May 22nd, and this seat joins the May 18th special election in PA-12 in the Toss Up column.

State lawmakers are preparing for Life After Lingle with several bills that would curtail the Republican governor’s ability to leave her imprint on government.

One bill that has upset Republicans would discourage the burrowing of Lingle’s exempt political appointees into civil-service jobs. The bill would extend the probation period from six months to a year for exempt workers who transfer or are hired into civil-service positions 90 days after leaving their exempt jobs.

Majority Democrats have said that the bill would help ensure the workers are qualified for the civil-service jobs, but Republicans see it as an attempt to weed out Lingle loyalists who land government positions after she leaves office.

From the Senate committee report on the bill:

The purpose of this bill is to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of state government services and to gather information to provide adequate agency funding by:

(1)  Temporarily lengthening the initial probation period from six months to 12 months for persons occupying a position that is exempt from civil service who then either transfers into a civil service position or is hired in a civil service position within 90 days of their departure from their non-civil service position to ensure that the individual possesses the necessary skill, knowledge, and expertise to carry out their duties; and

(2)  Requiring every state agency to report to the Legislature all non-civil service, temporary employees employed by the agency for each quarterly period of the fiscal year.

The Hawaii Government Employees Association has a "lobby day" planned for next Tuesday at the state Capitol, when union members will urge state lawmakers to support an increase in the state's general-excise tax to prevent further cuts to state programs.

State House and Senate leaders doubt there are the votes for a GET increase in an election year. Even if majorities in both chambers back a GET hike, a two-thirds' cushion would be necessary to overcome a certain veto by Gov. Linda Lingle.

The Republican governor, and majority Democrats in the House, have offered budget drafts that do not rely on a GET increase to close the state's $1.2 billion deficit through June 2011. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will soon take its crack at the budget, and the committee's chairwoman, state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Halawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights), has described a GET hike as a "last resort."

How potentially radioactive is a GET increase? The freshmen on the House Finance Committee asked House leaders not to expose them to a committee vote on a GET bill unless it was likely to go forward. There was no committee vote.

The Senate, however, passed a GET hike last session, so there is a vehicle alive and sitting in the House if lawmakers want to go that route.

The HGEA's position is clear:

GET INVOLVED! Show your legislators that you support a GET increase!

A temporary, modest increase in the General Excise Tax is vital to preserving the quality of life for all Hawaii residents. With 38 percent of the tax being paid by tourists, a GET is the best alternative for both short-term stimulus and long-term financial stability for our state. Recently, leading local economists have also said that such an increase will help to boost our state economy.<https://www.hgea.org/Members/News/3005.aspx>

Without passage of a GET increase this session, Governor Lingle will be allowed to address any additional deficit through further cuts to important public services and programs.

The legislators need to hear from YOU — their constituents! We will be organizing a Lobby Day where HGEA members and concerned citizens can visit with their lawmakers to encourage them to do right for Hawaii by supporting a temporary, modest GET increase.

Local Democrats are urging the state House and Senate to pass resolutions asking Congress to change the definition of corporations in response to a U.S. Supreme Court case that loosened restrictions on corporate political spending.

The court’s January ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission has upset activists who want to contain corporate influence over politics because it basically found that corporations are like people when it comes to political speech.

The resolutions argue that corporations are not like people:

Corporations cannot by any reasonable definition be characterized as people, because corporations:

(1) Can reside in multiple states and countries simultaneously;

(2) Can conceivably exist for hundreds of years;

(3) Cannot be incarcerated;

(4) Cannot enter into a marriage contract or conceive a child;

(5) Cannot independently formulate political opinions separate and distinct from the board of directors, executives, shareholders, or employees;

(6) Cannot obtain citizenship or be issued a passport;

(7) Cannot enlist in the military; and

(8) Cannot vote

Interesting story from the New Orleans Times-Picayune today about how a potential Medicaid fix for Louisiana in the healthcare reform bill may also help Hawaii.

The extra money for the Islands may depend on how the federal government treats Hawaii’s fifth county -- Kalawao County, the Kalaupapa settlement on Moloka'i under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Health.

From the story:

When President George W. Bush issued a disaster declaration for Hawaii after the October 2006 earthquake, it authorized federal relief and recovery efforts in what Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, who requested the declaration, described as "all four counties." But what she and the president neglected was a fifth county so small and obscure that most Hawaiians don't know it exists as a separate political entity.

It's Kalawao County, the remote Kalaupapa outcropping on the northern coast of the island of Molokai that, beginning in 1866, was a place of exile and treatment for people with Hansen's disease, the malady commonly known as leprosy. This was the renowned site of the "leper colony" where Father Damien, who was sainted last year, ministered to the sick, contracted the disease and died. In 1905, Kalawao was made a county unto itself under the stewardship of the Hawaii Department of Public Health, and that it will remain, at least until the death of the last of the 19 surviving patients -- whose average age is 78, and the youngest of whom is 69.

The Hawaii Department of Human Services is well aware how Kalawao County complicates the state's claim for what Trinity Tomsic, a Medicaid analyst with Federal Funds Information for States, estimates would be about $58 million in Medicaid money in 2011.

"We're looking at the situation with that fifth county," said Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman for the department and its director, Lillian Koller, who Schwartz said remains "optimistic we will find a way to get the FMAP provision."