Spending bill leaves out UH flood aid
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Senate and House negotiators approved an emergency spending bill yesterday, but without including nearly $40 million for flood relief and prevention efforts at the University of Hawai'i and in Manoa Valley.
The flood relief money was part of previous versions of the bill, but U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, a negotiator on the bill, said House Republicans refused to make it part of the $82 billion package. Most of that money would be used for anti-terrorism efforts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Given their resistance, I had to make the very difficult decision to withdraw the University of Hawai'i and Manoa Valley earmarks to ensure passage of the final version of the emergency appropriations measure," said Inouye, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
While the development was a setback, UH officials noted that money is already available to cover the basic $81 million in flood damage sustained at UH.
About $23 million of the $40 million in the federal spending bill had been earmarked for the university to cover research and business interruption losses, along with educational materials and research materials lost primarily at Hamilton Library, the medical school and the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. In some cases those funds would finance the costs of going back to repeat experiments and recover lost data or shift to other areas of research.
The rest would have gone to flood-prevention projects.
"Obviously, we're disappointed," said university spokeswoman Carolyn Tanaka. "That was money the senator was able to put in primarily for losses in research work, business stoppage and intellectual property losses, losses not included in the $81 million. That money also included funds for Manoa Stream flood prevention."
According to Tanaka, UH has a combination of money from three sources to cover the $81 million in flood damage, including:
• About $31 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will be advanced by the state as part of the next operating budget, and reimbursed when FEMA money comes through. But this is a moving target, according to UH officials, and could be less when final receipts are turned in.
• $25 million from the state's flood insurance policy, which is coming out of general funds initially and will be reimbursed by the insurance. This emergency appropriation measure has passed the Legislature and is in the governor's office for review.
• $28.4 million from the capital improvements budget for the coming year. This is not additional money but is coming out of the university's proposed $35 million for repairs and maintenance for the coming year, which would mean less money for other projects.
"We're extremely grateful to the senator for his efforts on behalf of the university," said Tanaka. "Nobody else could have gotten as far as he did in getting us additional federal relief."
Tanaka said that even in the Florida hurricanes no one had calculated the cost of lost intellectual property.
"We don't have a final figure on those losses," she said. But she also said the university expects to "pursue the federal route" again and perhaps also turn to the state to cover some of those losses.
Inouye said he will work to make sure the flood relief money is approved for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
"This will be a tough budget year with many competing interests, but I still plan to secure flood relief assistance for the University of Hawai'i and Manoa Valley," he said.
While turning down the flood aid, Senate and House negotiators did approve $25.4 million for the nation's tsunami warning system.
That money would be used for repairing tsunami detection buoys, buying new ones and expanding the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 'Ewa Beach. Some money would go for improvements to preparedness efforts in coastal communities at risk for disasters.
Advertiser staff writer Beverly Creamer contributed to this report.
