Before this edition of the Hawaii Legislature even opened back in January, Gov. Josh Green already had a good vision of the state budget and what he wanted to do with it.
The state budget was trending higher, with thumbs-up signals promising millions in the state surplus across the board.
“The state is in a strong financial position, and we need to act now to provide the relief that many people in Hawaii need,” Green said in an early January news conference.
Switch the scene to the last days of June and Green has turned cautious, seeing storm clouds fast approaching.
“We will be extra careful with spending initially, with a 5%-10% restriction across the board until it’s clear that we have a robust economy, which we anticipate, “ Green said in an email interview I had with him late last week.
That’s a remarkable turn and points to a governor who reacts quickly. Going from full throttle up to a 5%-10% restriction to all parts of the budget is more than just a dynamic budget.
If Hawaii is living in volatile economic times, it is reflected in a budget that goes from a boom and then a bust in every economic period.
It is clear this is not a job that Green finds too daunting. He may want to wait to gather opinions, but Green has none of the caution, almost to the point of timidity that so characterized the previous administration of David Ige.
Instead, Green seems able to refocus in the face of some financial bad news.
“My priorities remain housing, homeless solutions, education, climate change and cost of living,” Green said in last week’s interview.
But, the latest economic news is forcing Green to cut, and not just “address” everyday problems now.
Economists with the Council on Revenues are forecasting the general fund dropping from +2% in March to –1% in May, according to reports. That is what is causing Green to say there will be a budget rebalancing. Observers have said that Green needs to trim approximately $1 billion from the two-year budget.
How those cuts will materialize will be Green’s summer job.
Already Green has been slicing the budget by line item-vetoing portions of the budget.
The budget will cut things that the state was saying it was going to do, not cuts that stop what it is doing today. There is a big difference between saying the state won’t hire someone compared to saying it is laying off someone.
“We have homelessness to address, we have a housing shortage to address, we don’t have enough health care providers. That’s where our money needs to be spent right now,” Green said in a news conference announcing the planned budget cuts.
For Green, the problem is working with an economic reality while promising a humanitarian existence for all.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
