- The House draft of the budget, is favorable to UH’s request and to UH’s priorities.
- It includes restoring funding to pre-pandemic levels, expanding Hawaiʻi Promise, and other requested items.
- The legislative session is still less than half way complete, and there is still a ways to go toward completing a state budget.
Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, shares his analysis of the 2024 Legislative session.
Aloha UH students, faculty, staff and administrators,
This is the second of four updates on the 2024 legislative session as we track UHʻs budget requests and the hundreds of other bills that impact the 10-campus system. Right now, about 650 bills of the 2,670 introduced this session are still alive, and approximately 200 of them impact UH directly or indirectly.
The Legislature is deliberating a state budget for the second year of the biennium. The budget process for the second fiscal year is commonly referred to as the “supplemental budget” because it augments what was already appropriated last session for the biennium. As reported in the first update on December 19, the UH Board of Regents (BOR) approved a supplemental operating budget request in November for $56.3 million in additional general funds for Fiscal Year 2024–25 (FY25).
The top priorities included in the University’s budget request included restoring state funding to UH‘s three, 4-year institutions ($18.3 million). Hawaiʻi Promise provides funds for students with proven financial need, but currently, is only available to those attending community colleges.
The legislative session can be divided into three major parts. The first third, is all the activity up to first crossover, where measures “cross” from the originating body to the opposite chamber. For example, bills passed by the House of Representatives crossover to the State Senate and vice versa. The first crossover milestone for all bills and the budget completed over the past week. The supplemental budget bill (HB 1800 HD1) passed by the House on March 13 is now with the Senate for consideration. The analysis for what was included in the House draft of the budget, is generous to UH’s request and to UH’s priorities. The house draft of the budget includes restoring funding to pre-pandemic levels, expanding Hawaiʻi Promise, and other requested items.
The following table shows the comparison between the supplemental operating budgets proposed by the BOR, Office of the Governor and House:
| Campus | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board of Regents Request | Governor Request | House | |||||
| FTE | $$$ | FTE | $$$ | FTE | $$$ | ||
| UH Mānoa | General Fund Restoration – UH Mānoa | $5,600,000 | $5,600,000 | $5,600,000 | |||
| JABSOM | General Fund Restoration – JABSOM | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | |||
| UH Hilo | General Fund Restoration – UH Hilo | $3,420,000 | $3,420,000 | $3,420,000 | |||
| UH West Oʻahu | General Fund Restoration – UH West Oʻahu | $1,620,000 | $1,620,000 | $1,620,000 | |||
| UH System | General Fund Restoration – UH System | $5,086,848 | $5,086,848 | $5,086,848 | |||
| UH Mānoa | Athletics Subsidy – UH Mānoa | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | |||
| UH Hilo | Athletics Subsidy – UH Hilo | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 | |||
| UH Community Colleges | Culinary Institute of the Pacific – Full Year Funding | $389,245 | |||||
| UH Community Colleges | Value Added Product Center – Full Year Funding | $359,932 | |||||
| UH Mānoa | Expand Teacher Cohort on Neighbor Islands | 7.00 | $625,000 | ||||
| UH Mānoa | CTAHR Extension Agents | 5.00 | $506,555 | 5.00 | $506,555 | 5.00 | $506,555 |
| UH System | Increased campus safety | 4.00 | $1,000,000 | moved to TFSF | moved to TFSF | moved to TFSF | moved to TFSF |
| UH Mānoa | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH Mānoa | $12,506,711 | $12,506,711 | ||||
| UH Hilo | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH Hilo | $1,773,579 | $1,773,579 | ||||
| UH West Oʻahu | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH West Oʻahu | $4,026,116 | $4,026,116 | ||||
| UH Community Colleges | Hawaiʻi Promise Continuation – UH Community Colleges | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | |||
| UH Community Colleges | Community-based Planning for Redevelopment of Lahaina | 2.00 | $500,000 | ||||
| UH Mānoa | Nursing Enrollment and Access thru UH Mānoa-UH West Oʻahu Nursing Collaboration | 6.50 | $1,068,821 | 6.50 | $1,068,821 | 6.50 | $1,068,821 |
| JABSOM | Neighbor Island Health Access and Pathway Extension | 4.00 | $925,000 | 4.00 | $925,000 | 4.00 | $925,000 |
| UH Hilo | MA Counseling Psychology | 3.00 | $210,000 | 3.00 | $210,000 | 3.00 | $210,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu | Pre-Nursing Support | 3.00 | $322,032 | 3.00 | $322,032 | 3.00 | $322,032 |
| UH West Oʻahu | Early Childhood Education Support | 2.00 | $180,910 | ||||
| UH Hilo | BS Educational Studies and Expand Indigenous Teaching | 4.00 | $285,000 | ||||
| UH Community Colleges | Maui – Apprenticeship Training Expansion | $250,000 | |||||
| UH Community Colleges | Leeward CC – Modernize Equipment | $925,000 | |||||
| UH System | Systemwide Mental Health Services | 6.00 | $510,000 | 6.00 | $510,000 | 6.00 | $510,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Community Event Support | 6.00 | $709,000 | ||||
| UH West Oʻahu | ACM Facilities and Core Services Support | 4.00 | $252,648 | ||||
| UH West Oʻahu | Campus Safety | 1.00 | $61,800 | ||||
| UH Community Colleges | Maui – Water Quality Lab | 2.00 | $160,000 | ||||
| UH Mānoa | Stabilize UH Mānoa Athletics Operating Budget | 43.00 | $3,136,642 | ||||
| UH Mānoa | Cooperative Extension Support | 5.00 | $581,555 | ||||
| UH Community Colleges | Windward CC – Incarcerated Students Program | 3.00 | $250,528 | 3.00 | $250,528 | 3.00 | $250,528 |
| TOTAL | 110.50 | $56,342,922 | 30.50 | $28,619,784 | 30.50 | $46,926,190 | |
For the capital improvement projects (CIP) supplemental budget, the BOR requested $331.5 million for FY25 in additional General Obligation Bonds to address capital renewal, progress on deferred maintenance and funding for projects to modernize each of the campuses. The House budget provides $223.45 million for FY25 for UH in General Obligation Bond funding for various projects.
The following table shows the CIP budget comparison between the BOR, governor and House:
| Campus | Description | Board of Regents Request | Governor Request | House |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UH System/UH Mānoa | System, RIM Projects | $110,000,000 | $20,000,000 | $125,000,000 |
| UH Mānoa | RIM Projects for Student Housing | $40,000,000 | ||
| UH Mānoa | Hale Noelani Renovation | $80,000,000 | ||
| UH Mānoa | PV Rooftop, PV Canopies and Various Energy Efficiency Projects | $30,000,000 | ||
| UH Mānoa | Waikīkī Aquarium Upgrades | $9,000,000 | $9,000,000 | $4,500,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Coconut Island Sewer Line Upgrades | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Holmes Hall | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Assessment and Feasibility of Hamilton Library | $6,500,000 | ||
| UH Mānoa | Mini Master Plan, Phase 3 – Kuykendall Hall | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Central Administration Facility with Parking | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 | |
| UH Mānoa | Waikīkī Aquarium Seawall Repairs | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | |
| JABSOM | JABSOM Roof Replacement | $6,500,000 | $6,250,000 | $6,250,000 |
| UH Hilo | RIM Projects | $7,300,000 | $7,300,000 | $16,200,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu | RIM Projects | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | |
| UH West Oʻahu | Road B Entry Plaza | $5,200,000 | ||
| UH West Oʻahu | PV Carport | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | |
| UH Community Colleges | Major R&M | $10,000,000 | ||
| UH Community Colleges | Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance | $25,000,000 | ||
| UH Community Colleges | Pālamanui – Improvements and Repair of Buildings | $2,000,000 | ||
| UH Community Colleges | Pālamanui – Expansion of Nursing and Early Childhood Ed Labs | $500,000 | ||
| UH System | CTAHR – Poamoho Research Station | $2,000,000 | ||
| Total | $331,500,000 | $66,550,000 | $223,450,000 |
Though the house budget bill is favorable towards UH, the legislative session is still less than half way complete, and that means there is still a ways to go toward completing a state budget. Now the Senate will have its turn at deliberating a supplemental budget and that includes what the Senate prefers for the UH budget.
The next milestone will conclude near mid-April when legislative measures (including, the budget) complete deliberations in the non-originating side of the Legislature. The third part of the legislative session begins after April 11, following the second crossover. Bills that are still alive will return to their originating legislative chamber to begin a very intense two week scramble at the end of the session when conference committees begin to meet and finalize the bills. The session is scheduled to adjourn on May 3, 2024.
Please know that the administration, alumni association, faculty and staff and other affinity groups will continue to be active at the state legislature until the session ends to advocate and ensure that public funding for university programs can continue.
I anticipate providing another legislative update after the second crossover in mid April. If you have any questions, please email news@hawaii.edu.
Mahalo for your time and attention,
Kalbert Young
Vice President for Budget and Finance/Chief Financial Officer
