Governor Neil Abercrombie today signed into law today measures critical to paying down the State's unfunded liabilities and replenishing the hurricane and rainy day funds.
The Hawaii State Legislature worked collaboratively during the 2013 Session to fulfill its commitment to paying down the State's unfunded liabilities pertaining to other post employment benefits. The Legislature made appropriations to begin payment to these unfunded health benefit liabilities through the State Budget with $100M for FY14 and $117.4M for FY15.
Currently, the unfunded liabilities for the employer-union health benefits trust fund is $13.6 billion.
House Bill 546, Relating to the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF), will make Hawaii the first state in the nation to statutorily require payment of the annual required contribution for future public worker health benefits.
"Paying down these liabilities will have a positive impact on the state's bond rating and ensure that Hawaii's future is not handicapped by increasingly burdensome debt," said Senator David Ige, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. "We have also set up a solid framework for future payments which demonstrates the legislature's commitment to address the unfunded liability of the EUTF."
The Governor also enacted two measures making general fund appropriations to recapitalize the State's hurricane reserve trust and emergency and budget reserve funds, funds which were used to help balance the budget during the Great Recession.
"During the Great Recession, as one of the alternatives to a general excise tax increase, we borrowed money from the hurricane fund and rainy day fund to balance the budget. We had always intended to repay those funds so that the proceeds would be available again for future contingencies," explained Ige. "These bills demonstrate our commitment to recapitalizing those funds to build healthy reserves."
Senate Bill (SB) 1094 makes a general fund appropriation of $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2013-2014 to recapitalize the hurricane reserve trust fund.
SB 1092 makes a general fund appropriation of $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2013-2014 to recapitalize the emergency and budget reserve fund.
View the media release.
Lead Senate and House negotiators on the State Budget bill announced they closed negotiations three days ahead of an internal deadline. Discussions between the Senate and House on finalizing the budget started well ahead of schedule this year, marking a paradigm shift in the approach taken to complete the work of the legislative session.
"The House and Senate committed to working together to finish the budget ahead of schedule," said Senator David Ige, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. "By completing work on the budget early, we have more time to consider the state financial plan and make thoughtful decisions on what bills should move forward."
Finishing work on the budget early also creates a better environment for Senate and House negotiators working on other measures. Rational decisions can now be made without the immense pressure of looming deadlines. The conference committee meetings for the State Budget began nearly a week earlier than normal to avoid the last minute rush to get conference bills out for final vote. This is a marked change from the last minute rush of typical legislative sessions.
One of the items that the two sides were able to come to agreement upon was a balanced reduction of vacancies throughout state departments in order to cut costs and ensure accurate financial reporting. After considering input from the departments, the two Chairs announced that roughly 200 positions-down from the proposed 1,000-will be reduced to save nearly $8 million.
"Chair Ige and I believe that in order to efficiently and effectively use state resources, the departments need to instill a sense of accountability and responsibility in their management of vacant positions. We have made it very clear that the Legislature wants to have all departments accurately use money we give them for its intended purpose and not for other things," said Representative Sylvia Luke, chair of the House Finance Committee. "I would like to really thank them for understanding what we are trying to accomplish and for providing information to ensure that the most effective decisions are made in staffing."
On the opening day of the conference committee for the state budget, the chairs agreed to appropriate $100 million for fiscal year (FY) 2014 and $117.4 million for FY 2015 to begin payments on the unfunded liabilities.
Currently, the unfunded liabilities for the employer-union health benefits trust fund is $13.6 billion.
Over the upcoming fiscal biennium, the Legislature's final draft of the executive budget is more than $250 million under the Governor's budget proposal.
Today, appropriations for Capital Improvement Programs (CIP) and grants for non-profits (Grant-In-Aid) were announced. The committee funded $30 million in projects for non-profit organizations on every island in the state.
"In conferencing with the House members, the intent of this biennium's CIP negotiations has been to identify what needs to be funded by the state, while staying within the executive bond issuance plan as much as possible. For General Obligation bonds, this was just over $1.32 billion for the biennium to cover projects related to agriculture, education, social services, and technology," explained Senator Michelle Kidani, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means who oversees Capital Improvements Projects for the Senate.
"This proposed budget keeps the CIP budget within the state's debt ceiling and Executive Bond issuance plan," said Representative Luke."
On funding public school facilities, Luke said, "We have agreed to fund the Department of Education over $400 million for repairs, upgrades and issues that have plagued our educational facilities for many years. You can't have a 21st century school with 20th century electrical wiring!"
House Bill 200, relating to the State Budget, will now go before the full House and Senate for a final vote.
See attachment for highlights of the Capital Improvement Projects.
See attachment for highlights of Grant-In-Aid recipients.
View the media release.
House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke and Senate Ways and Means Chair David Ige have announced that the first conference committee meeting on the state budget will be held on Thursday, April 11, 9:30 a.m. in room 309 at the State Capitol.
The conference committee meetings for the state budget are being held a week earlier than normal to avoid last minute rushes to get conference bills out for final vote.
"Both the Senate and the House moved quickly to get the budget moved out of their respective legislative bodies to get us into a position to negotiate differences a week earlier and allow for more discussion time. This also allows the public the opportunity to better follow the work of the conference committee," said Representative Luke.
"We look forward to working with the House to make strategic investments in our community and provide a solid financial foundation for the State," said Senator Ige.
The House Conferees are: Representatives Sylvia Luke, Chair; Scott Nishimoto, Aaron Johanson, Ty Cullen, Mark Hashem, Kaniela Ing, Jo Jordan, Bert Kobayashi, Nicole Lowen, Dee Morikawa, Richard Onishi, Gregg Takayama, James Tokioka, Justin Woodson, Kyle Yamashita, Beth Fukumoto, Gene Ward.
The Senate Conferees are: Senators David Ige, Chair; Michelle Kidani, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Donovan Dela Cruz, J. Kalani English, Will Espero, Gilbert Kahele, Gilbert Keith-Agaran, Ronald Kouchi, Russell Ruderman, Laura Thielen, Jill Tokuda, Sam Slom.
The meeting's hearing notice can be found on the Capitol website.
Click here to view the release.
The Challenger Center of Hawaii Program, which over the past 20 years, has provided middle school students the opportunity to experience simulated space missions while also gaining important hands on experience in the process. It continues to be a model program where hands-on learning incorporated with science and technology has lead to a thriving educational tool for our state. On April 1 2013, the Senate recognized those individuals who over the past 20 years have helped in the success of the Challenger program.
On Monday March 18 coaches and members of the Pearl City Girls Wrestling team were honored at the State Capitol. The team captured the 2013 HHSAA Girls State Wrestling Championship for the first time in schools 40 year history. Three members of the team also claimed individual state honors. They include Breanne Takaesu, Xandria Ford, and Janelle Fuamatu. Congratulations to Coach Mike Lee and all team members on their outstanding accomplishment this season.
What to watch for this session.
Click here for highlights from the first month of this legislative session including the stance of Senator Ige on some key issues . We also encourage you to follow me on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for the latest in our community and what is happening here at the Capitol.