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Hawaii state capitol
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Hawaii State capitol

Kalbert Young

Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, shares his analysis of the 2016 legislative session.

May 5 was the final day of the 2016 legislative regular session. The legislature adjourned passing hundreds of bills—some of which were of interest or concern to the university. Of course, the most significant of these is the supplemental budget for the State of Hawaiʻi.

The University of Hawaiʻi worked very hard with a number of lawmakers to advance the university’s needs and priorities.

The supplemental budget bill has been passed by the legislature and now moves to the governor for his approval. Barring any unlikely veto of budget items by the governor, let’s take a look at how the University of Hawaiʻi is represented for funding in the budget. Below is a comparison of the items requested by the Board of Regents back in January versus what was included in the budget bill for the university.

Operating Budget Proposals
Campus UH Request Conference Draft
UHM 4 positions and $350,000 for CTAHR Extension Program 4 positions and $330,000 for CTAHR Extension Program
UHM $306,168 for Office of Research Compliance None
UHM $1,093,832 for Environmental Health and Safety Office None
UHM $5,000,000 for UH Cancer Center None
UHM $3,000,000 for UHM athletics None $3,000,000 appropriated to UH System for systemwide athletics
UHH $560,000 for UHH athletics None
UHH 37 positions and $420,000 for security services 27 positions and $0 for security services
UHWO 12 positions and $728,020 for continued growth and evolution of UHWO 6 positions and $357,604
UHCC $1,250,000 for a centralized equipment fund $1,250,000 for a centralized equipment fund
System 20 positions and $3,500,000 for Hawaiʻi Research and Innovation Initiative None
UHM Transfer positions and funds from UH System to all campuses for program support Transfer 1 position from UH System to UHM and $95,000 for assistant professor
UHM   $350,000 non-recurring for theatre and dance
System   $150,000 non-recurring for the Hawaiʻi State Science Fair
System   $3,000,000 for athletics

Over the course of the past 5 months, there has been much media coverage about some of the key funding priorities of the university. Deferred maintenance is a major capital concern and UH had asked for $184.9 million in general obligation bond funds to support a capital campaign for deferred maintenance for the next fiscal year. The state budget contains a total of $182.75 million worth of general obligation bond appropriation for specific project funding and $30 million in revenue bonds. This represents significant progress in public and university funding towards deferred capital needs throughout the UH System.

UH Capital Budget Comparison
Campus UUH Request Conference Draft
UHM $2,500,000 for design of Snyder Hall $55,000,000 for a new Life Sciences Building to replace Snyder Hall that includes $20,000,000 from a current appropriation
UHM $2,000,000 for design of Dean Hall renovation None
UHM Authorization to expend $5,750,000 in UH bond proceeds at JABSOM Authorization to expend $5,750,000 in UH bond proceeds at JABSOM
UHWO $38,800,000 for Creative Media Facility at UHWO $35,000,000 for Creative Media Facility at UHWO
UHCC $10,000,000 for minor CIP at UH Community Colleges $10,000,000 for minor CIP at UH Community Colleges
System $300,000 for CIP staffing None
System $131,300,000 lump sum for UH deferred maintenance and capital renewal $48,625,000 lump sum for UH deferred maintenance and capital renewal
System Authority to issue up to $100,000,000 in UH revenue bonds Authority to issue up to $30,000,000 in UH revenue bonds
UHM   $13,000,000 lump sum for athletics department
UHM   $1,000,000 Warrior Rec Center repairs
UHWO   $7,000,000 (FY16) for Administration and Allied Health Facility reduced from $24M, but $17M added for EB-5 loan repayment
UHCC   $15,000,000 for deferred maintenance and capital renewal projects at UH Community Colleges
UHCC   $2,000,000 for culinary arts program (Kauaʻi CC“>CC)
UHCC   $1,100,000 for a High Technology Workforce Development Center (Honolulu CC)
UHCC   $4,320,000 for parking lot, sidewalks and drainage improvements (Honolulu CC)
UHCC   $655,000 for Kokiʻo Building Renovation (Kapiʻolani CC)
UHCC   $750,000 for Naio Building Renovation (Kapiʻolani CC)
UHCC   $9,000,000 for North Hawaiʻi Education and Research Center (Hawaiʻi CC)
UHCC   $300,000 for additional office space and storage at Pālamanui (Hawaiʻi CC)
UHCC   $7,000,000 for Maui Food Innovation Center (Maui College)

The University of Hawaiʻi is grateful and appreciative of the support that the legislature has provided this session—especially in providing resources to make progress on our decades-old deferred maintenance backlog. Much more work will need to be done and future funding support will continue to be needed. We look forward to continuing to improve our partnership and to work together as a community to improve and better our state’s only public university system.

The budget bill is expected to be signed by the governor before the start of the next fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2016.

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