Ige wants $1.8B for construction
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Gov. David Ige held a news conference Monday at the state Capitol to announce his proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Gov. David Ige held a news conference Monday at the state Capitol to announce his proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Gov. David Ige on Monday unveiled his proposed $13.7 billion state budget for next year along with a construction budget that would push $1.8 billion in new building projects out into the already busy Hawaii economy.
Ige’s new budget puts the state on a track to spend $488 million more from the general treasury next year than it will collect in taxes or other revenues, but state government had a large cash surplus of $828 million at the end of the last fiscal year that can be tapped to help cover the cost of his proposed spending plan.
Ige also announced a plan to accelerate payments on one of the state’s largest unfunded liabilities by setting aside $408 million next year to cover future health costs for retired public employees and their spouses. That would be in addition to $360 million the state has already budgeted to provide health insurance for public workers, their dependents and retirees next year.
Ige said his administration’s commitment to prepay that unfunded liability for health coverage will save the state more than $500 million over the next 20 years. “This is part of my work that is not glamorous or exciting,” he said. “It is, however, the only responsible act to take.”
The draft budget for the year beginning July 1 was submitted to the state Legislature on Monday, and Ige said he looks forward to a “healthy exchange of views on these and other issues” as lawmakers consider whether to adopt his proposals.
Some lawmakers including House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuuanu) have worried that the state has in recent years been spending more than it collects in revenue. However, Luke said that is less of a concern with Ige’s new proposed budget because the governor intends to prepay the state’s existing health fund obligation to provide coverage to public workers, and also wants to build up the state’s cash reserves.
Ige has told lawmakers he will propose a measure to bank $100 million in the state’s “rainy day” budget reserve fund, but that bill won’t be submitted to the Legislature until next year, Luke said.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Jill Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) said, “Obviously, that’s always a concern when you’ve got negative revenues over expenditures.”
She added, “That being said, we are going to take a good look at what he put forward and proposed, and see what we are able to do in terms of balancing out all of those ongoing obligations and those needs, and consider how we can sustain those going forward.”
Ige’s draft budget includes $350 million more than budgeted this year for Honolulu Harbor modernization, and $161 million more than this year’s amount to support affordable-housing projects.
Ige’s proposed budget also includes $179 million more than this year’s amount in improvements to the Honolulu and Kona airports.
“Specifically, I have been committed to open an international port of entry at Kona Airport, and this will help us in that regard,” he said.
Ige also announced he is proposing to add $248 million to this year’s figure to further support education, “which remains one of my highest priorities, and one on which I know a lot more needs to be done.” The budget also proposes to add $4 million than was funded in 2015 to support the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, which has a budget shortfall.
The budget proposes to invest in “the core infrastructure of government,” which will allow the state to move forward more efficiently, he said.
“This administration has been focused on ensuring the state’s fiscal stability, now and in the future,” Ige said. “We do know that these investments will help our position and reduce the cost of government on a going-forward basis, and while we are committed to be fiscally responsive, we also intend to be responsive to the needs of our community, and this budget truly reflects that.”
Ige’s new proposed budget also includes $160 million to build a new patient care unit to replace the forensic unit of the Hawaii State Hospital for the mentally ill in Kaneohe, and Luke predicted there will be questions about that request from the Legislature. The forensic unit houses mentally ill patients who have been accused of crimes.
The Department of Health has told lawmakers it will take seven or eight years to build a new hospital facility, and Tokuda said she wants that timetable shortened to perhaps three years. Luke called that Health Department timetable “ridiculous” and said that if construction is still years away, that suggests the department doesn’t need all of the money immediately.
“If it’s still going to take seven to eight years, what’s the sense of tying up $160 million right now for a project that’s not even going to be done for eight years?” she said. If the department needs time to obtain permits or other approvals, it should do that and come back for the money when it’s time to pay the bills, she said.
Budget-in-Brief-FY-17-BIB.pdf by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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44 responses to “Ige wants $1.8B for construction”
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Spend Spend Spend.
That’s all they know….then tax, tax, tax to pay for their ineptness and shortsightedness.
Right-On brother. The new taxes are now called a fee. Soda can fee. TSA fee, $500 car registration fee… you get the drift..
Much of the initial money will go to “Consultants”, who will then form “Committee’s”, who will retain additional Consultants to add an additional “opinion”. And, then there will be “Studies” by experts–from another planet. And, that’s how the first $800M will be spent; well, maybe they’ll fill a pothole or two along the way, just to provide the public with some positive “PRESS”…
Spending is OK. It’s the waste, waste, wasting that concern me.
I’d rather he be honest and be over budget than meet the budget and go over it at the end of the year. The rail was estimated well below what it is today and everyone did’t expect it to go over? Ignorance.
There is always talk of spending to improve things. But to try to balance the budget there must be disscussion of cutting costs of items and programs that are not necessary to improve the Health, Safety. and wellbeing of the tax payers. LIKE getting state employees to “WORK” instead of increasing the work force. Eliminate positions that are not productive-like f9he the leutant governor cause no one can define what productive responsible duties that he does. Also is tsutsui still operating from Maui?? If he is then please some one explain how is he productive??
We need much more for early education. It pays off in the long run. I also agree that Ige is right to cut off the UH sports complex. That is not the mission of the UH. Make sports entertainment pay for itself or eliminate it entirely. Invest in academics!
I’d rather have him cut student tuition.
Many European and Scandinavian countries completely subsidize quality higher education for qualifying students as a social good. This levels the educational playing field for all and promotes the educated populace that Jefferson said was necessary for the success of a democracy.
This is also why those European and Scandinavian countries have tax rates twice as high or more than ours, are not not doing so well economically.
Oh please local, have you even visited Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, etc? Yes taxes are high but services provided by the government are also first-rate. Most of the countries of Northern Europe are doing just fine. Especially so since the fall of oil prices.
(Actually, if we lived in a country as (relatively) homogeneous as Denmark or Belgium, Bernie Sanders would probably be elected President.)
Although costs are high in Scandinavia, gov’t subsidies to education housing and transportation mitigate these costs. We need to do that in Hawaii.
We need to downsize the UH and that is likely why the budget for uH has slowly dwindled, and he is letting the autonomous BOR decide where to cut. If they can eliminate some departments, they can demolish old buildings rather than renovate. This will breed infighting among departments to get their “fair”share.
while they’re at it they should downsize government also.
Is allie a school teacher?
How about charging allie 500 bucks to register and license her bike every year?
Gov didn’t mention the budget includes funding for increasing network bandwidth to state computers. This will allow state workers to watch Hulu and Netflix without all the buffering issues, wasting their time.
Also not mentioned is how much money will be going to union pay raises which will further increase the required funding for union pensions and benefits. Expect the surplus to be completely gone by 2017. State will be adding to the cost of borrowing money, further putting the state deeper into debt.
Puerto Rico will soon have company in bankruptcy. Just another day in the Nei.
Geez, ask your gerontologist to cut back on the dosage of the Cranky Old Man pills.
Which is a waste of time? Watching Netflix. Playing cards. Gossiping. Taking all day about your retirement plans? Facebook. Starbucks time?
Instead of building new projects use that money to repair the crumbling State infrastrcuture. Ige needs to think rationally towards the long term survival of the Islands.
I can’t even read my smartphone riding on the bus as it jolts over each pothole.
If the local Tax-Payers are lucky–maybe $1B of the requested $1.8B will go to infrastructure, instead of the pockets of The Construction Unions and Ige’s Contractor constituents(?)(buddies).
Get rid of the rail project and save over $5 BILLION!
The state could stop it’s take of 10% of the surcharge revenue.
Unaware of the difference between city and state?
Hard to tell the difference between the two losers. Both are equally wasteful.
Seems like good, sound thinking and rational decision making on the Governor’s part.
Nope a lot of that money could go towards lowering the cost of living.
He just wants the union votes as he is alienating everyone else.
No money for early childhood education. How sad.
Plenty of money for late adulthood of being homeless, though.
wilikitutu – Parents are accountable for the costs of preschool. Gov is just kowtowing to the special interest groups, throwing taxpayer’s money at them so they will vote for him. Way too many parents fail to understand the lifetime of consequences and expenses for their 30 seconds of bedroom fun.
Baloney. Have you read the results of a huge study of about 90,000 K-3 kids in the SA?
Elaborate on that 30 seconds, again? I’m kind of slow to learn that.
And we thought the “concrete jungle” was on the continental US.
Yeah. Hawaii is the new mainland.
I saw Ige kissing Santa Claus. Begging Santa for a 1.8 B Christmas gift.
I have mixed thoughts on this Budget. Most of it, I liked. However I’d like to see an audit on all State Departments and get rid of unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. That alone will probably save the State a couple hundred million a year!
IMPEACH GOVERNOR IGE, HE’S AN EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR COUNTRY!!
http://www.change.org/organizations/impeachgovernorige
SIGN THE PETITION!
What a tough job being a Governor of any State! The new UH football coach gets paid more than the governor and works with a much smaller budget.
Because 1.8 sounds much less than 2 billion.
Retail’s favorite number is the number nine. 1.9 billion, instead of two billion?
The Gov’nor’s got his ‘Groove’ back. He’ll methodically dissect each of these programs and make the best decisions he can. Prioritizing what’s in the states best interest in leveraging ‘must-haves’ rather than ‘nice-to-have’ that will ultimately benefit the people of Hawaii.
Engineers are trained to ‘fix’ problems and come up with common sense solutions.