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,
The 2024 legislative regular session concluded on May 3. Throughout the 2024 session, there were a lot of issues and initiatives that were anticipated to dominate the focus of the Legislature, such as responding to the Maui wildfires, legalizing recreational marijuana, easing sunshine law requirements, reforming the state tax code, etc. For things related to the University of Hawaiʻi, an initial review may seem like 2024 was a repeat of previous years’ results. However, I would postulate that there are some signs that there are a number of decent outcomes for UH, all things considered. Perhaps, it could be the first year in a trend toward future improvement.
The first place to look is the state budget. The funding provided will support the current level of operations and capital improvement projects for the UH 10-campus system. HB 1800 CD1 is the state supplemental operating and capital improvement projects (CIP) budget bill to fund the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.
Starting with the operating budget, below is a breakdown of the funding for UH for the upcoming fiscal year compared to the Board of Regents’ budget request approved before the start of the session. What was “special” about this past legislative session, is the progress of support— and, not—throughout the session via the different drafts of the budget. For example, I believe it is a “historical first“ that a legislative body would overwhelmingly support a department’s budget request to the extent that they would fund everything the governor proposed, plus more. The House did just that in the house draft (HD) of the operating budget. Of course, that level of funding was not ultimately sustained in the Senate or in legislative conference committees on the final budget.
The table below shows the progress of the budget proposal through the entirety of the session. This is barring any unlikely (line-item) veto of budget items by the governor. Items listed in red are “non-recurring” and will require the university to request continued funding at the next legislative session.
| Campus | Description | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | CD1 | ||||
| FTE | $$$ | FTE | G$$$ | ||
| UH Mānoa | General Fund Restoration – UH Mānoa | $5,600,000 | $5,600,000 | ||
| JABSOM | General Fund Restoration – JABSOM | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | ||
| UH Hilo | General Fund Restoration – UH Hilo | $3,420,000 | $3,420,000 | ||
| UH West Oʻahu | General Fund Restoration – UH West Oʻahu | $1,620,000 | $1,620,000 | ||
| UH System | General Fund Restoration – UH System | $5,086,848 | $5,086,848 | ||
| UH Mānoa | Athletics Subsidy – UH Mānoa | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | ||
| UH Hilo | Athletics Subsidy – UH Hilo | $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 |
| UH System | Increased campus safety | 4.00 | $1,000,000 | moved to TFSF | moved to TFSF |
| UH Mānoa | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH Mānoa | $12,506,711 | |||
| UH Hilo | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH Hilo | $1,773,579 | |||
| UH West Oʻahu | Hawaiʻi Promise Expansion – UH West Oʻahu | $4,026,116 | |||
| UH Community Colleges | Hawaiʻi Promise Continuation – UH Community Colleges | $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 |
| JABSOM | Neighbor Island Health Access and Pathway Extension | 4.00 | $925,000 | 4.00 | $925,000 |
| UH Hilo | MA Counseling Psychology | 3.00 | $210,000 | 3.00 | $210,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu | Pre-Nursing Support | 3.00 | $322,032 | ||
| UH West Oʻahu | Early Childhood Education Support | 2.00 | $180,910 | 2.00 | $180,910 |
| UH Hilo | BS Educational Studies and Expand Indigenous Teaching | 4.00 | $285,000 | 4.00 | $142,500 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| UH Community Colleges | Statewide Access Master Plan | $2,874,177 | |||
| UH Mānoa | Wildfire Mapping and Vulnerability Assessments | $1,000,000 | |||
| UH Mānoa | Study and Cultivation of Ornamental Red Ginger | $125,000 | |||
| UH System | International Programs for Economic Development at East-West Center | $250,000 | |||
| Total | 110.50 | $56,342,922 | 33.50 | $32,870,339 | |
*Items in red are non-recurring.
Our top priority this session was the restoration of state general fund support to pre COVID-19 pandemic levels after being cut in 2020. Although this was a repeated request for the last two sessions, in 2024, the Legislature has restored pre-pandemic funding to the university’s base budget.
In addition to funding via the broad state budget, there were also individual appropriation measures to certain university units. Below are bills separate from the budget bill that appropriated funds to the University of Hawaiʻi for programs or initiatives.
| Bill | Description | FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| HB 1148 CD1 | Windward CC mental health-related program expansion | $210,150 |
| HB 2248 CD1 | UH Mānoa Sea Grant College Program North Shore Beach Management Plan | $1,000,000 |
| HB 2743 CD1 | UH Water Resources Research Center and the Sea Grant College Program to develop an overlay regarding cesspools | $350,814 |
| SB 2284 CD1 | UH Mānoa College of Engineering wildfire forecast system | $1,000,000 |
| SB 3068 CD2 | UH Economic Research Organization Multiethnic Cohort Study on Health Effects of the Maui wildfires | $2,334,681 |
Hawaiʻi Promise
A few important initiatives were not funded. Most notably, is the recurring failure to fund the expansion of the Hawaiʻi Promise Program for students at UH Mānoa, UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu. Hawaiʻi Promise was implemented in 2017 at the seven community colleges and has been highly successful.
More on Hawaiʻi Promise Program
This year’s initiative would have provided funds for the unmet financial needs for qualified students at the four-year campuses. This is notable, because 2024 represents the first year in the past five years where the university’s proposal on Hawaiʻi Promise was not included in the governor’s budget proposal. Yet still notable, this was the singular additional item that the House included in its HD in addition to supporting all other parts of the governor’s operating budget proposal. In the end, the Hawaiʻi Promise expansion was not funded in the final version of the budget.
Tobacco tax
There was also a bill that would have increased the cigarette tax revenue by 2 cents with those additional funds going to the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center. Cigarette tax revenue is the primary and critical source of funds to pay for the debt service on Hawaiʻi’s Cancer Center. A portion of the cigarette tax revenues also pays for the operations and research of our state’s cancer center. Unfortunately, this bill did not pass and consequently, during the interim, there will need to be deeper discussions on this issue to determine the next steps for the state’s center.
Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) budget
Regarding the state CIP budget, these are the funds UH uses to address major facility improvements and address deferred maintenance. This has consistently been a major area of concern for the university over the past decade. The Legislature appropriated a total of $184.2 million in general obligation bonds for the following projects:
| Campus | Description | Board Request | CD1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UH System/UH Mānoa | System, RIM Projects | $110,000,000 | $100,000,000 |
| 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 | |
| UH Mānoa | Coconut Island Sewer Line Upgrades | $3,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
| UH Mānoa | Holmes Hall | $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 | |
| UH Mānoa | Central Administration Facility with Parking | $8,000,000 | |
| UH Mānoa | Waikīkī Aquarium Seawall Repairs | $3,000,000 | |
| UH Mānoa | CTAHR – Poamoho Research Station | $2,000,000 | |
| JABSOM | JABSOM Roof Replacement | $6,500,000 | |
| UH Hilo | RIM Projects | $7,300,000 | $16,200,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu | RIM Projects | $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 | Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance | $25,000,000 | |
| UH Community Colleges | Minor CIP | $25,000,000 | |
| UH Community Colleges | Hawaiʻi CC Pālamanui – Improvements and Repair of Buildings | $3,000,000 | |
| UH Community Colleges | Hawaiʻi CC Pālamanui – Expansion of Nursing and Early Childhood Ed Labs | $500,000 | |
| UH Community Colleges | Value-Added Product Development Center, Molokaʻi | $2,500,000 | |
| Total | $331,500,000 | $184,200,000 |
*Items in red were previously appropriated in part or in full by General Funds in last year’s budget
Some of the figures are noted in red to indicate that the Legislature changed the Means of Financing from General Funds (i.e., cash funding) to General Obligation bonds. Although the amount of CIP funding may sound impressive—$184.2 million—in reality, the amount of additional funding support is actually less, with the net effect being a gain of only $19.5 million, as $164.7 million of previously appropriated capital improvement projects for UH was purposely lapsed.
Last year, the first year of the biennium, the Legislature appropriated $101.2 million in General Funds for capital improvement projects at UH. In order to free up cash to provide resources to respond to the devastation caused by the August wildfires, the Legislature force lapsed those General Funds and appropriated those amounts in General Obligation bonds. For the System/Mānoa Renew Improve Modernize (RIM) funds, an additional $70 million was appropriated to get to the $100 million total for FY25. In total, $164.7 million of previously appropriated capital improvement projects for UH was purposely lapsed, and a table with additional detail is provided below:
| Campus | Description | $$$ | Means of Financing |
|---|---|---|---|
| UH Mānoa | Coconut Island Sewer Line Replacement/Upgrade | $5,000,000 | General Fund |
| UH Hilo | RIM Projects | $16,200,000 | General Fund |
| UH Community Colleges | Minor CIP | $25,000,000 | General Fund |
| UH Community Colleges | Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance | $25,000,000 | General Fund |
| UH System | RIM Projects | $30,000,000 | General Fund |
| UH Mānoa | HIMB DARPA Prototype Artificial Coral Reef | $63,517,000 | GO Bond |
While the condition of student housing on the UH Mānoa campus was a major topic of discussion this past legislative session, in the final conclusion of the budget no explicit funding was provided toward student housing or student housing facilities. The budget appropriation for RIM projects does include recognition of “student housing facilities.” RIM funds could already be used for those projects but would now compete with the needs of all other facilities such as those for instructional, research, student support and administrative purposes rather than having its own funding source. Still, it is positive that there is some nod to student housing included with RIM funding.
The University of Hawaiʻi is grateful and appreciative to the Legislature and the governor for the budget funding. Sustained funding may always be a major issue for UH programs and facilities, and despite a few shortcomings, I believe this budget represents decent support in a number of areas. The governor has until July 10, 2024, to sign, veto or allow bills to become law without his signature.
Mahalo for your time and attention,
Kalbert Young
Vice President for Budget and Finance/Chief Financial Officer
