Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, shares his analysis of the 2022 UH budget request to the Legislature.
Operating Budget
On Thursday, November 18, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) approved a supplemental operating budget request that was submitted to the governor and, separately, the Legislature. The fiscal and economic recovery for the state is underway but some questions remain as to the near-term extent and longer-term sustainability. While the overall state general fund revenues look strong for this fiscal year, the state is expected to prioritize certain areas that were cut in the past few years as priority for what needs to be addressed beginning in the next fiscal year.
The American Rescue Plan Act included a “Maintenance of Effort” provision regarding the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund monies that went to our public K–12 schools. It requires state support for elementary, secondary and postsecondary education in FY22 and FY23 to be at levels proportional to overall state budgeting and spending as averaged during FY17, FY18 and FY19. In other words, the state government’s budget cannot disproportionately reduce funding to education in order to fund the rest of the budget. For FY22, overall state spending was considerably reduced and UH was reduced proportionately. For FY23, it is expected that state general fund appropriations will grow and therefore state appropriations for the Department of Education and UH should grow in proportion to overall state spending.
The UH budget request primarily seeks to request restoration of the general fund cuts to all campuses that were effectuated in the FY22 budget—those cuts total $42.5 million. UH is also asking for restoration of the $4 million in previous general fund subsidy for athletics. There are only two other operational funding requests: funding for the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems in the amount of $550,000, which was a program transferred from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to UH in FY22. The UH request also includes adding five positions to the UH West Oʻahu Academy for Creative Media in the amount of $282,000.
As part of the executive branch’s budget proposal submitted to the Legislature on December 20, 2021, the governor included everything UH requested along with additional initiatives that align with the governor’s broader platform.
One such initiative is to provide $1.7 million for additional nursing clinical instructors. These instructors will help to expand the nursing education programs offered throughout the state by UH in order to help address the ongoing nursing shortage in Hawaiʻi. $2 million was added to the budget for the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) in order to expand the residency program to the neighbor islands. To help address the teacher workforce shortage, $557,000 was added for the College of Education to increase the number of lecturers in teacher preparation. $1.575 million was added to help address workforce shortages in the Information Technology and Cybersecurity industries. $380,000 was added to UH Mānoa’s budget for equipment and facilities upgrades to help handle the expansion of the Creative Media program at UH Mānoa. To kickstart the aviation program at UH Hilo, $190,000 was added to its budget to hire two faculty. Finally, $21.7 million was added for repairs, maintenance and equipment for UH facilities.
| Description | BOR FY23 | Gov FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| General Fund Restoration – UH Mānoa | $30,000,000 | $30,000,000 |
| General Fund Restoration – JABSOM | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 |
| General Fund Restoration – UH Hilo | $2,280,000 | $2,280,000 |
| General Fund Restoration – UH West Oʻahu | $1,080,000 | $1,080,000 |
| General Fund Restoration – UH Community Colleges | $4,600,000 | $4,600,000 |
| General Fund Restoration – UH System Support | $3,391,232 | $3,391,232 |
| Athletics – UH Mānoa | $3,600,000 | $3,600,000 |
| Athletics – UH Hilo | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| PISCES – Hilo | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Creative Media – UH West Oʻahu | $282,000 | $282,000 |
| Nursing Clinical Instructors – UH Mānoa, UH Hilo, UH Community Colleges | $1,756,489 | |
| Residency Program Expansion – JABSOM | $2,040,000 | |
| Teacher Workforce Education – UH Mānoa | $557,097 | |
| IT and Cybersecurity Workforce – UH System Support | $1,575,000 | |
| Creative Media – UH Mānoa | $380,000 | |
| Aviation Program – UH Hilo | $190,000 | |
| Repairs, Maintenance and Equipment – UH System Support | $21,700,000 | |
| Total | $47,383,232 | $75,581,818 |
Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget
The CIP budget request was also approved at the November 18 BOR meeting. For the upcoming session, the CIP budget request is rather modest. The bulk of the CIP plan is intended to allow UH to continue to address health and safety measures, increase efficiency and utilization of existing spaces and support current and funded research activities.
UH is requesting $89 million for FY23 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 $86.5 million in FY23 in his budget request. The following table lists the projects from the BOR-approved budget and the amounts that were included in the governor’s request:
| Campus | Description | BOR FY23 | Gov FY23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UH Mānoa | Hamilton Library | $6,000,000 | |
| UH Mānoa | Central Admin Facility with Parking | $4,000,000 | |
| Leeward CC | Fascias | $6,500,000 | $6,500,000 |
| Waikīkī Aquarium | Discharge System Upgrade | $11,500,000 | $11,500,000 |
| Systemwide | Renew, Improve and Modernize (RIM) | $33,500,000 | $32,000,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu | Renew, Improve and Modernize (RIM) | $2,500,000 | $2,500,000 |
| UH Community Colleges | Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance | $25,000,000 | $24,000,000 |
| UH West Oʻahu via UH System | UH West Oʻahu Campus Expansion and University Village | $10,000,000 | |
| Total | $89,000,000 | $86,500,000 |
The governor’s executive branch budget request, along with all the other measures will be deliberated by the 2022 Legislature, which convenes on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. This supplemental budget will be for the upcoming fiscal year that runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
As in previous years, my hope will be to provide readers with updates throughout the legislative session to show the progression of the budget for UH as it moves through the process.
Let’s see what 2022 has to offer.
