Budget slashing targets schools
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The University of Hawai'i and the state's public schools are being asked to shoulder a large share of the fiscal burden in the first two years of Gov. Linda Lingle's administration.
State House members yesterday were told that the Lingle administration is seeking more than $500 million in cuts to a variety of UH and public-school construction and renovation projects.
Two areas that raised eyebrows of the House members were proposals to delete $171 million that had been targeted for the long-awaited UH West O'ahu campus and to take out $90 million from the closely watched DOE's long-starved repair and maintenance budget.
While Budget Director Georgina Kawamura had promised previously that there would be substantial cuts to former Gov. Ben Cayetano's capital improvement project budget, her presentation to the House Finance Committee yesterday was the first time details were given.
The biggest item on the chopping block is $171 million targeted for the UH West O'ahu campus. Several lawmakers expressed concern that the project would be set back as a result of the lost money.
"The University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu was a priority of the previous administration and even of previous legislatures, but it doesn't seem to be a priority for this administration," said House Majority Whip Brian Schatz, D-25th (Makiki, Tantalus).
But Rep. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia), told reporters he believes it was a wise move to hold off on the financing because the state must complete the long-awaited North-South Road, connecting 'Ewa with Kapolei, before it can begin construction of the West O'ahu campus. Work on the the road is not expected to begin until next year, Moses said.
"Then we can get the money for the West O'ahu campus," he said. "I don't think it's the highest priority today with all the other things we have."
Plans call for the West O'ahu campus to be on 320 acres east of the Kapolei Golf Course along Farrington Highway. Until the campus opens, the university is looking at leasing space in downtown Kapolei to establish a presence.
Meanwhile, House Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine, D-1st (N. Hilo, Hamakua, N. Kohala) said after yesterday's meeting he was disturbed by the administration's decision to trim the DOE's two-year school improvements budget down $90 million from its original $240 million.
At older Big Island schools he has visited, Takamine said, the improvements "make a difference, and they've only started." Trimming $90 million would affect a number of schools and students, he said.
Takamine said the committee will review all the cuts and the entire financial situation before deciding on whether to restore money for projects.
Lawmakers last year threw a record $210 million at the DOE's repair and maintenance problem in a variety of allocations, hoping to improve conditions and stimulate the post-Sept. 11 economy.
The Department of Accounting and General Services had been developing a six-year plan to eliminate the $430 million backlog by budgeting $120 million annually.
On the operating budget side, UH is being asked to pare $21 million from its operating budget over three years while the Department of Education is expected to cut about $9 million during that same time.
The reductions are part of Lingle's plan to make up between $175 million to $184 million in the state's general fund budget, which would make good on her campaign promise not to raid the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund as written into the budget by Cayetano.
Kawamura said later that the $7 million annually being asked of UH comprises only a portion of its $484 million budget while the $3 million annual DOE cut is only a sliver of its $1 billion budget.
Schatz said he and other Democrats believe that UH is taking a disproportionate share of the fiscal burden. "These cuts seem to be more severe at the University of Hawai'i system than they are in really any other state-funded department," he said. "I don't think they should treat our university like that so we're going to be working on, hopefully, remedying that situation in the next several months."
Takamine and other Finance Committee members also expressed frustration about a seeming series of delays in obtaining information from Kawamura's department. The administration had asked all state agencies to trim nondiscretionary money in their respective budgets by 5 percent but Kawamura said yesterday that several agencies, including UH and the DOE, have not yet done so.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
