Director speaks up
for isle relief fund

The hurricane fund manager
wants the money to stay put

---

By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press

As executive director of the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, Lloyd Lim finds himself constantly on the defensive.

"It's a serious responsibility taking care of over $200 million," Lim said yesterday after two Senate committees deferred a decision on a bill to transfer the fund's $213 million to the state's general fund.

"Our current approach at the Hurricane Fund is to try to defend the moneys for use by the future hurricane relief fund," Lim said.

That won't be easy.

Gov. Ben Cayetano wants lawmakers to use some or all of the $213 million fund to help make up for a projected $330 million shortfall in the current state budget.

In addition to the bill deferred by the Senate yesterday, the House also is considering several measures to use the hurricane funds.

Additionally, state Republicans have pushed an initiative to return the hurricane money to homeowners who paid into the fund, a proposal that was rejected this week by the Democratic majority.

"Everybody wants these hurricane funds," noted Sen. Rod Tam (D, Downtown-Pauoa- Nuuanu), a member of the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee.

Tam suggested holding community hearings to get a better sense of what the public wants done with the money.

"I think that's a very good idea," said Lim. "The public has a right to have as much input as possible on this kind of legislative issue."

Still, he said he had "no idea" which way lawmakers were leaning and where the funds might ultimately wind up.

"We recognize all those other issues, but our responsibility for the fund is very narrow," Lim said. "We have responsibility for hurricane funding, so that's why we really don't have much of a choice in taking that position."

The Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund was enacted in 1993, a year after the devastation caused by Hurricane Iniki prompted some insurers to drop hurricane insurance from homeowners' policies.

"It's essentially a state-operated hurricane insurance company that provides insurance for hurricane losses," Lim said.

Over time, some insurers have once again started to sell hurricane insurance, Lim said.

The hurricane insurance program was suspended Dec. 1 after the board of directors determined that it had fulfilled its original purpose of making insurance available at a time when the market for such insurance was inadequate.

And even Lim admits that the fund, for the time being, has served its purpose as a stopgap measure.

But he agrees with those who say that transferring the funds discounts the possibility of future disasters.

"What happened after Iniki could happen again, and the hurricane fund could possibly be needed again," Lim said. "If that happens, obviously we'd prefer to keep the money to keep the fund as strong as possible."

---

Legislature Directory

Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes

Testimony by email: testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov
Include in the email the committee name; bill number;
date, time and place of the hearing; and number of copies
(as listed on the hearing notice.) For more information,
see http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/par
or call 587-0478.