Budget chief faces difficult task

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Perhaps the toughest assignment in Gov. Linda Lingle's administration falls on the shoulders of Georgina Kawamura, the state's new director of budget and finance.

New state Budget Director Georgina Kawamura enjoys a light moment with Gov. Linda Lingle. Kawamura faces the tough job of finding $500 million in savings within the state's $3.5 billion general fund. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I like to use that ($500 million) as a target, as impossible as it seems, as a challenge," Kawamura said with a laugh, noting that the actual amount she and her department need to find is somewhere between the $184 million in Hurricane Relief Fund money Lingle has promised to leave untouched and $500 million.

Besides leaving the hurricane fund intact, Lingle also told voters she would re-institute the food tax credit, eliminate or reduce the general excise tax on medical services and not lay off civil service employees — all while not raising taxes.

Kawamura acknowledged that since she has been on the job for several weeks and seen the books, the job is more daunting.

Dealing with budgets that carry 10 digits was not something that could have been imagined by Kawamura when she was growing up as the youngest of five children in the Kauwenaole household in Lana'i City. Her first job, at the age of 22, was as a clerk-typist for Maui County under former Mayor Elmer Cravalho.

Kawamura would go on to work for three other Maui mayors, rising through the ranks to become budget director for 11 years under former Mayor Hannibal Tavares, and then Lingle.

Lingle has a combination of the best qualities found in the "analytical" Cravalho and the "compassionate" Tavares, Kawamura said.

After Lingle left, Kawamura worked briefly for James "Kimo" Apana as an assistant but left after several months because of "philosophical differences."

There was disagreement in both the 2002 and 1998 gubernatorial campaigns about how well Lingle was able to manage Maui County's fiscal house, with Apana and other Democrats charging that he was forced to raise property tax rates dramatically after she left.

Kawamura, budget director throughout Lingle's eight years as mayor, defended the Lingle administration's record, noting that while the county's operating budget went up, it managed to keep a solid carry-over at the end of each year and retain favorable bond ratings.

Lowell Kalapa, president of the nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawai'i, praised Kawamura as a good administrator who "earned the loyalty and respect of the people who worked for her."

Kawamura, Kalapa said, has "a broad understanding of the bigger picture of balancing the budget as opposed to getting caught up in the nitty-gritty."

That said, however, Kalapa said it will be difficult for Lingle and Kawamura to accomplish all they have promised in the next few years.

"They're going to have to resort to a creative plan to balance the budget," Kalapa said. "I think there are some things (the governor and Legislature) can do, but whether they are willing to do them from a politically correct strategy, I'm not sure."

Said Kawamura: "We're going to dig, we're going to search, we're going to find whatever means. We have those marching orders."