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State senators must really like the University of Hawaii’s community college system — and not so much UH’s four-year campuses — because the latest budget proposal calls for giving smaller campuses $51 billion. dollars for the next fiscal year.
It’s a billion with a “b,” as in “$51,450,000,000” specifically for UH’s seven community colleges, according to the latest version of House Bill 1600, which left the Senate Committee. Ways and Means on Friday.
State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, chairman of the committee, said senators realized the amount was a mistake but they couldn’t fix it in time for Thursday’s midnight bridging deadline.
“It should be $51 million, not $51 billion,” he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Remove the last three zeros.”
Dela Cruz said senators would consider a floor amendment today to fix the $51 billion figure, along with other elements of HB 1600 that could not be fixed in time.
Curiously, the latest budget bill that passed the Ways and Means Committee has no money for UH’s three four-year universities in Manoa, Hilo, and West Oahu.
Although the proposed community college budget is unusually high, Dela Cruz said Manoa, Hilo and West Oahu can tap into the UH system budget for their funding.
The Senate budget proposal includes an additional $88 million for unspecified community college projects. Dela Cruz said plans for the $88 million will be revealed this week.
The Senate version is also asking for an additional $1.76 million to hire nursing instructors at UH community colleges and campuses in Manoa and Hilo.
For perspective, the entire UH system operates on an annual budget of approximately $1 billion, half of which typically comes from the state’s general fund and the other half from tuition.
The entire community college system operates on an annual budget of approximately $225 million.
The House version of the state budget bill only included $4.6 million to restore cuts to UH’s seven community college campuses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is identical to the budget requests of the HU Board of Regents and Governor David Ige.
The economy continues to improve faster than expected after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy.
But to put the Senate’s $51.5 billion budget mistake for UH community colleges into context:
>> Ige was rebuffed by the Legislature for his proposal to inject $1 billion into the state’s “rainy day fund” to prepare for future economic disaster.
>> A bill continues to advance through the Legislature that would provide the largest infusion of funds — $600 million — to help clear the backlog of Hawaiian Native Land beneficiaries.
>> Dela Cruz and her House counterpart, Sylvia Luke, chair of the House Finance Committee, on Wednesday proposed tax refunds totaling about $250 million: $100 for taxpayers and their dependents who earn $100,000 or more, and $300 reimbursement for taxpayers and dependents earning less than $100,000.
