House targets Saying there is no alternative, state House Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine has sent to the full House a bill that would use $100 million from the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund to help balance the state budget.
hurricane fund
The Democrats' plan would use
the fund for essential programsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comMoreover, the bill requires that $83 million of the $100 million pay for essential programs in education, human services and other areas that faced elimination because of proposed 5 percent departmental budget cuts.
"Our responsibility is to pass a balanced budget, and these are some of the steps that are being taken to meet our responsibility," Takamine (D, Hilo) said yesterday.
House Minority Floor Leader Charles Djou (R, Kaneohe) said Democrats are using a tricky strategy designed to weaken opposition to using nearly half the money from the $213 million hurricane fund.
"From the Democrats' perspective, it's a very deft political maneuver because they're loading it all up with a bunch of programs, which makes it very difficult to vote against," Djou said.
The changes to House Bill 2654, House Draft 2, in effect, puts legislators critical of raiding the hurricane fund -- namely House Republicans -- in a precarious position.
If they vote against the measure, that also means they are also voting against funding for more than 100 state programs, including implementation of multitrack schedules for public schools, funding for the A+ after-school program and money to keep open state public libraries, parks, clinics and district courthouses.
Other programs tied into the amended bill include $2.3 million in services for domestic violence, substance abuse, sex offender programs and the homeless; $9.9 million to pay for bed space at mainland prisons and at the airport federal prison; and $3.2 million to continue welfare payments at the current level of $418 a month.
The hurricane fund was created in 1993 to provide coverage to homeowners after private insurers left the Hawaii market after Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
The state stopped writing hurricane policies when insurers returned a few years ago.
Takamine said using $100 million from the fund is an attempt to prevent the deep cuts that might otherwise "take down" essential state programs.
On Monday, state departments paraded before the committee to show how proposed 5 percent cuts would drastically affect their programs.
"I wanted to indicate really clearly to the (committee) members that given the budgetary shortfall, given the realities that we're faced with, the budget will not include any of these services," Takamine said.
Djou said, "Nevertheless, the basic underlying principle is that they're trying to raid the hurricane relief fund."
House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa) said there are no easy answers, but House Democrats intend to keep all budget options open.
"We still believe in protecting the integrity of the hurricane fund, and no one is in favor of raising taxes," Oshiro said.
Gov. Ben Cayetano reiterated yesterday there are not many alternatives to deal with the $330 million budget shortfall.
The governor said it is "shibai" (false) for legislators to say they can pass a budget that keeps the hurricane fund intact while maintaining state programs and cutting taxes.
"We put the issues on the table," Cayetano said. "If anyone feels they can come up with a better scenario for the 5 percent cuts, be our guest and step forward."
While the committee approved the bill, it deferred any action on the $3.4 billion supplemental state budget bill because time remains in the next two weeks to work on it.
Meanwhile, the Senate Ways and Means Committee approved a bill yesterday that increases the state liquor tax by 50 percent, generating another $20 million in revenue for the state. Cayetano had proposed doubling the tax to raise $40 million.
Senate Bill 2832, Senate Draft 1, moves to the Senate floor for a vote.
Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa) has said budget cuts would be the only choice if legislators did not use additional revenue sources to balance the budget.
State of Hawaii
