Lingle chastises
critics over budgetThe governor says the Legislature
has given a false impression
of having future funds
Gov. Linda Lingle chastised state lawmakers yesterday for not fully funding state hospitals and for creating a "false impression" that the state will have more money next year when its budget actually is more than $200 million short.
Lingle on TV
Gov. Linda Lingle will discuss the state budget on KITV-4 from 7:30 to 8 p.m. tonight.Quick link:
TheHawaiiChannel.com (KITV-4)
"The Legislature adjourned without putting in any money to operate Maui Memorial Hospital or Lanai Community Hospital ... they didn't fund the first year in total," Lingle complained during a news conference at her state Capitol office.
Legislators, Lingle noted, refused to approve a $14-million emergency request for money for the semi-autonomous Hawaii Health Systems Corp., which runs the state hospitals on the neighbor islands.
The Legislature also did not put any money into the state hospitals for the second year of the state's biennial budget, Lingle added.
"I saw Speaker (Calvin) Say and President (Robert) Bunda on television. Speaker Say said, 'She should just come down next year and get the money.'
"What do they mean by 'come down next year and get the money'? There is no money. Are they going to print it over the summer?" Lingle said.
"To say 'Come back and get the money' is creating a false impression that somehow they have extra money on the side and they just didn't put it in this year and that is simply not true," Lingle said.
To drive home her concern about the budget, Lingle has arranged to go on television tonight to discuss the state's budget problems.
She will appear in a broadcast at 7:30 p.m. on KITV-4 for a half-hour discussion of the state's budget. The television station is making the time available without charge, according to Lingle's office.
Lingle yesterday repeated her concern that the state must operate with a balanced budget.
"The whole mindset that we will just go raid some fund next year and find the money -- I want to change that mentality. We want recurring revenue to meet recurring expense," Lingle said.
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, said they are concerned that Lingle's line-item veto of portions of a bill to fund private social service agencies will hurt the poor and disabled.
By cutting portions of state appropriations to agencies to help the poor, Lingle is saving only a little money, but may damage social service programs, said Senate President Bunda.
The money saved by Lingle's budget cuts only amounts to $3 million, according to Bunda.
"Three million doesn't solve this $200 million shortfall," he said.
He also added that he expects the hospital corporation to request funding for the second year of the two-year budget next year.
"Hopefully, by then we will have enough money to fulfill their request," Bunda said.
