The so-called “slush fund” allows Green to cope with that problem, but the budget required that Green report back to lawmakers how he uses the money. In the end the bills to dismantle HTA failed to pass, but lawmakers also failed to include funding for the authority in the state budget. However, the Legislature this year seriously considered abolishing the authority. The HTA is responsible for promoting Hawaii as a tourist destination and managing the impacts of mass tourism on the state, and normally receives about $60 million a year to do so. Lawmakers said Green will be able to use some of that $200 million pool of unallocated funding to cover the cost of operations for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, for example. ![]() Yamashita confirmed for reporters after the floor session the provision dealing with the $200 million had been added after the conference committee voted. She also criticized a portion of the budget that creates what she called a $200 million “slush fund” that Green can tap into to transfer additional money to any state department he chooses.īelatti said that provision was added into the budget after the House-Senate conference committee agreed to the terms of the document and voted on it April 26. Exceeding that cap requires a two-thirds vote by lawmakers. “This underfunding of education and higher education comes at a time when we have a budget surplus,” even as the Legislature is exceeding the constitutionally mandated spending cap that is tied to the annual growth of the economy, she said. Each of them raised objections to the handling of the state budget this year. Della Au Belatti on the House floor Thursday. House Health and Homelessness Committee Chairwoman Della Au Belatti acknowledged that there are “many good things” in the new budget, but said the document “fails both on substance and process.” Lawmakers (from left) Rep. “It is immoral for us to pit the (Department of Education) against teachers by cutting school services to pay for a very modest pay raise for hardworking teachers that deserve so much more.” “We have a $2 billion surplus,” she said. Kapela said leading lawmakers reduced the budget for public schools by $167 million over the next two years from what the governor requested, and pointed out that is almost the same amount as the new teachers’ contract awards in raises to teachers over the next two years. Jeanne Kapela, another left-leaning Democrat, launched into her own scathing criticism of the new budget, saying it “continues the historic underfunding of our public education system.” She said that is “ridiculous” when the state has an enormous surplus, and “at a time when we pay lip service to the idea of stopping the brain drain and keeping our young people here in Hawaii.” The state began the year with a budget surplus on the order of $2 billion, but Perruso said the new budget reduces spending on the university system by $95 million from what the governor had proposed. ![]() He also cited $38 million in new money committed to the Preschool Open Doors program, which will allow 3-year-olds to participate and increase the number of low-income children served by the program from about 1,200 to about 4,000.īut critics such as House Higher Education and Technology Committee Chairwoman Amy Perruso refused to support the budget bill saying it will result in a “massive budget shortfall” for the University of Hawaii system. ![]() He cited appropriations such as $72 million earmarked to increase reimbursements to medical providers who serve people on Medicaid, and $100 million in extra funding for state agencies to upkeep parks and beaches to preserve natural resources. ![]() House Finance Committee Chairman Kyle Yamashita praised the two-year, $38.3 billion state budget as a document that “focuses on healing and investing in our future.” House leadership was sharply criticized Thursday for its handling of the new state budget, with critics saying more money should have gone to education and social services. Josh Green’s first veto, and lawmakers disclosed that last-minute negotiations between the House and Senate produced an agreement that gives Green unilateral authority to restore funding to the Hawaii Tourism Authority if necessary. The Legislature closed out its session for this year Thursday with an impassioned but ultimately unsuccessful rebellion by a handful of House progressives who wanted changes to the new state budget. Green was given the power to restore funding to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, but some Democrats decried budget cuts to public schools and the University of Hawaii.
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