DOE to decide project priority
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The Department of Education will have greater discretion over repair and maintenance of public school buildings under a bill signed by Gov. Linda Lingle this week.
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Until now, a lump sum for such work was approved by the Legislature every two years. The DOE then recommended project priorities to the Department of Accounting and General Services, which had final say.
"In terms of prioritization, the DOE will have the final say," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki.
Gov. Linda Lingle has said that she will consider restricting capital improvements money that is not on the DOE's priority list.
At times, some officials have said, DAGS prioritized the financing of projects based on its own logic, such as lumping projects because of geography or commonality.
House Bill 281, which takes effect July 1 in time for the next biennium budget, gives sole discretion over prioritizing public school repairs to the DOE.
"In terms of prioritization, the DOE will have the final say," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a).
The bill also calls for the two agencies to come up with recommendations by next session on how best to transfer complete control of the repair and maintenance budget to the DOE.
House Bill 281 was supported by state comptroller Russ Saito and DOE officials.
The DOE's repair and maintenance budget has the been subject of much debate in recent years, and the finger-pointing continued during this year's legislative session.
The budget submitted by former Gov. Ben Cayetano included $240 million over two years for repair and maintenance, but that amount was slashed to $90 million by Lingle because of budget constraints.
Legislative Democrats criticized her for the action. But lawmakers then whacked the amount down even further to $42 million over the biennium, which Lingle believes will not be enough to deal with pressing repairs for everything from termite damage to leaky roofs.
DAGS estimated that a maintenance backlog of $800 million has been reduced to about $675 million, but Saito believes the state needs to devote about $50 million annually to keep from falling further behind.
Legislative leaders said that not all of the money appropriated for repair and maintenance in previous years has yet been spent.
Saiki said the change could spur the Legislature to provide more money.
"Under the current system, the funds get backlogged because of the excess bureaucracy," he said.
The new relationship between the DOE and DAGS does not represent a sea of change in the way school repair and maintenance is handled, though.
Both agencies were supportive of the law, and lawmakers have traditionally been hands-off when it comes to maintenance financing, granting the money as a lump sum.
The state's school construction budget has been more controversial. The budget for the next two years shows not only that lawmakers, not the DOE, dictated where much of the money will be spent at individual schools across Hawai'i, but that in nearly every situation a project ended up on the state's construction list only if the school was in an area represented by someone serving as a House or Senate committee head.
Lingle has criticized the longstanding practice and has said that she will consider restricting capital improvements money that is not on the DOE's priority list.
The bill she signed this week does not address that issue.
Staff writer Jennifer HIller contributed to this report. Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
