Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, shares his update of the 2018 legislative session to date

The Hawaiʻi State Legislature is entering its final month for the 2018 legislative session, and in the next few weeks both the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Finance will conduct conference committee meetings to decide on the differences between each other’s drafts of the State Budget ( HB 1900 HD 1 SD 2). Their ultimate decisions will either provide funding for programs, departments, and agencies across the state, including the University of Hawaiʻi System—or not.

All state departments and the university will be watching these conference meetings to see how they fare as agreements are made. Be warned, the process typically also includes a fairly high degree of disappointment as well. There simply are not enough funds available to meet all the needs or desires of every state department.

At the start of this process, the University of Hawaiʻi submitted a request that consisted of $16,821,507 in additional general funds for FY 2019. This amount was to fund various operating programs and initiatives.

Of the university’s original request of $16.8 million, the governor’s executive branch proposal included $6.7 million.

In March, the House of Representatives completed its draft ( HD 1) of the State Budget, and provided $1,759,000 of the $6.7 million governor’s proposal. Highlights of the HD 1 to UH included $300,000 for student success initiatives at UH Mānoa and $750,000 for student services centers at the UH Community Colleges.

At the beginning of April, the senate passed its version of the budget ( SD 2), which provided $4,898,331 in additional general funds. Highlights from the SD 2 to UH include $700,000 for Hawaiʻi Promise funding, using $3 million in transient accommodations tax revenue to fund athletics, and more than $1 million for student success initiatives. The following table shows a synopsis of how UH has fared so far this session on the operating budget, with conference meetings on the budget about to begin:

Campus Description UH BOR Governor House Senate CC s Hawaiʻi ’s Promise Program $700,000 $700,000 $700,000 CC s Architects / Engineers for Facilities $273,600 UHWO Health and Safety / Utilities / Equipment $781,000 $300,000 $501,000 Mānoa Facilities $4,038,848 $1,500,000 CC s Additional Positions for Security $1,083,264 Hilo DKICP – Janitorial and Groundskeeping $120,495 $120,495 System Office of Strategic Planning and Development $500,000 $90,000 Mānoa Student Success Initiative – Veterans, Filipinos, Mental Health $575,000 $400,000 $300,000 $400,000 CC s Apprentice Lecturer Costs $260,000 $260,000 $260,000 CC s Filipino Student Support $614,920 $350,000 CC s Veterans Support $473,108 $473,108 Mānoa Native Hawaiian Affairs Action Plan $700,000 $500,000 $500,000 CC s Native Hawaiian Student Support $1,729,908 $500,000 Hilo Native Hawaiian Development $260,000 $200,000 $79,000 $79,000 Hilo Student Workforce $200,000 Mānoa Student Research and Innovation $535,000 $175,000 $175,000 Mānoa Graduate Student Initiative – Phase I $2,850,000 $621,397 $621,397 UHWO Academic Affairs Restructure and Growth $680,000 $400,000 UHWO Student Affairs $446,364 $200,000 $130,000 JABSOM Alternative Medicine $500,000 CC s Student Services Centers (1-time training) $750,000 Mānoa College of Engineering $155,000 Mānoa College of Education to collaborate with Hawaiian Language College $100,000 Mānoa Center for Pacific Island Studies $568,332 Mānoa CTAHR $820,000 Hilo Janitor and Groundskeeper $80,330 Hilo Aviation Program $600,000 Hilo Rat Lungworm Research at DKICP $199,000 Hilo Hawaiʻi Ant Lab $100,000 Hilo Indigenous Teacher Education Program $100,000 Hilo Reduce Funds for Office of Mauna Kea Management -$800,000 UHWO Health Sciences Academy $515,000 CC s Agricultural Program at Hawaiʻi CC $208,600 CC s Librarian for Leeward CC $60,500 CC s Student Success Initiative at Hawaiʻi CC $750,000 CC s Architects and Project and Construction Managers $364,800 CC s Online Learning $565,372 CC s Value Added Product Development Center $0 System Reduction -$5,000,000 System Online Learning $685,000 System Repair and Maintenance $1,500,000 Total $16,821,507 $6,700,000 $1,759,000 $4,898,331

Most of the university’s operating request was not included in either draft of the state budget, and the senate included a reduction of $5 million to system administration. The senate also funded $3 million to athletics programs from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Special Fund, but that is predicated on the successful passage of a separate bill ( HB 2010).

On the UH capital improvement projects ( CIP ) budget, the UH initial request was for $269.7 million for FY 2019 to address capital renewal, progress on deferred maintenance and funding for projects to modernize each of the campuses within the UH System. The governor included $120 million of the UH requested amount in his budget request. The house draft of the budget appropriated $92,428,000 while the senate draft provided for $93,507,000 for capital projects.

The following table shows the current CIP breakdown:

Dollar amounts for fiscal year 2019 Campus Project Title UH BOR Governor House Senate Mānoa Renew, Improve, Modernize ( RIM ) projects $139,500,000 Mānoa Sinclair Library Renovation $41,000,000 $20,000,000 $700,000 $700,000 Mānoa Keller Hall Renovations, design phase $1,500,000 Mānoa Athletics (UOH900) $11,100,000 $11,100,000 Mānoa Cancer Center Annex – Early Phase Clinical Trials Program (UOH900) $200,000 Hilo Renew, Improve, Modernize projects $27,900,000 Hilo Puako Marine Educational Center, design phase $1,000,000 $3,200,000 $23,000 Hilo Hale ʻAlahonua Air Conditioning $3,000,000 Hilo Phase II and Phase III of Haleʻōlelo Complex for College of Hawaiian Language $500,000 UHWO Renew, Improve, Modernize projects $3,000,000 UHWO Relocation of Dental Hygiene Program from UH Mānoa to UH West Oʻahu $10,000,000 UHWO Campus Center Extension $5,000,000 CC s Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance $25,000,000 $12,000,000 $6,275,000 $6,500,000 CC s Minor Capital Improvement Projects $10,000,000 $10,000,000 $10,000,000 $10,000,000 CC s Hawaiʻi CC – Campus Development, design phase $2,000,000 $2,000,000 CC s Leeward CC – Repave Fascia and Replace Walkways Campuswide $8,800,000 CC s Maui – Expansion of Culinary Arts Program to Lahaina $400,000 $400,000 CC s Hawaiʻi CC – Pālamanui Outdoor Learning Area and Dining Area Improvements $1,173,000 System Mauna Kea Cultural and Educational Visitor’s Center $3,000,000 $23,000 System Renew, Improve, Modernize ( RIM ) Projects $76,000,000 $56,980,000 $56,061,000 Total $269,700,000 $120,000,000 $92,828,000 $93,507,000

Once the conference committee meetings start, much will need to be discussed between conference committee members. There are a variety of issues facing the legislature this year—not only the budget. All of these issues do have some impact or effect on the budget and the political dynamics. The conference committee process is generally a closed, non-public decision making process, so we all need to patiently wait for the end of session to see how the university fares. The Hawaiʻi State Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 3, 2018.