Gov. Linda Lingle's long-term financial plan amounts to a “;shell game”; that simply shifts money around and relies on more pay cuts for public workers that would have to be negotiated after she leaves office, Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Donna Mercado Kim says.

Lingle outlined her six-year plan for Kim's committee yesterday.

It includes proposed pay cuts of 5.5 percent for state workers in fiscal years 2012 and 2013. Current pay cuts imposed by furloughs are scheduled to expire by then.

“;It's easy to say that we're anticipating a 5.5 percent cut in salaries when you're not going to be here,”; Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa) said after the briefing. “;Those decreases will depend upon the ability to negotiate that. I guess it's like we could say we're going to a tax increase in three years or four years.

“;That's something that I don't think I'm going to be able to use to balance the budget. I have to use real numbers.”;

  State auditor criticizes Lingle administration

 

The State Auditor blasts the budget and finance department for its handling of taxpayer money.

 

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  Lingle brings bad news about state budget

 

The governor says government worker salaries are going to have to continue to be cut into the next biennium.

 

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Lingle said she had not discussed the plan with union leaders, saying it would be premature.

“;My term ends in under nine months now, but I'm still obligated to show a financial plan that balances in all those years,”; Lingle told reporters. “;The next governor would face all the labor negotiation when they come in just the way I did when I first came in.”;

Lingle argued that for most public workers, the 5.5 percent pay cuts would result in a net pay increase of 2.5 percent because the current furlough plan amounts to about an 8 percent pay cut.

Randy Perreira, head of the 29,000-member Hawaii Government Employees Association, pooh-poohed Lingle's budget.

“;We understand that the governor is obligated by law to do a financial plan, but her plan calling for continued cuts is irrelevant, as she will no longer be in office,”; Perreira said in a statement. “;It's irresponsible for her to presume that her successor will undertake her plan.”;

Kim further criticized the governor's budget over plans to withhold payments until after the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. Those payments include an estimated $275 million in refunds to state taxpayers and payments for May and June to the state's Medicaid providers.

“;It's a shell game,”; said Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa). “;They're moving money around.”;

She also noted that the $275 million in tax refund payments are not accounted for in future years, meaning they will continue to be pushed off on future administrations indefinitely.

As her committee prepares to take its first crack at the state budget, Kim said she is “;looking very heavily at the special fund transfers and some other creative ways of cutting costs.”;

Lingle said her budget plan addresses the state's two biggest costs: labor and Medicaid. It aims to reduce the size of government and spur private-sector job growth while also fundamentally restructuring the Medicaid program to provide basic care as opposed to what Lingle called a “;Cadillac”; plan that is more than the average worker receives.

“;We can promise people that they will get basic care, but they will not continue to get care at a level that's beyond what working people are getting,”; Lingle said. “;Financially, there is no other choice because the current benefits cannot be sustained over time, and the projections show that.”;