Hawaii to Drain Hurricane Fund to Cover Shortfall
Hawaii lawmakers are going to drain the state’s Hurricane Relief Fund to get through this year’s financial storm.
The House revealed a new plan Tuesday that would drain the entire $75 million in the fund to help cover a $200 million shortfall in the current budget year. On top of that, the state faces a $1.3 billion shortfall over the next two years.
Until now, the plan had been to tap $42 million this year, which would have been paid back in equal parts over the next two years.
It was not clear from the revised version of , introduced in a conference committee Tuesday, whether there’s a pay-back plan for the $75 million.
The revised bill would allow Gov. Neil Abercrombie only to use the money to balance the budget for fiscal 2011, which ends June 30, according to House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro.
The committee scheduled a vote on SB 1270 for afternoon.
“There was a request made since by the governor through (the Department of) Budget and Finance that, given current projections for current year and the most recent Council on Revenues forecast of minus 1.6 growth on the eve of the horrendous Japan disaster, that we might need these funds available to balance the current year’s budget,” Oshiro said. “It would give the governor authority to draw down on the remaining balance of $75 million only for, and limited to, the current fiscal year ending June 30.”
The state set up the hurricane fund after Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauai in 1992. It funded hurricane policies for homeowners after private insurers left the market. But since insurers returned, the fund has been dormant since 2002.
Oshiro said the bill also would require Abercrombie to first use any money the state could get from raiding special funds laid out in . That bill also will be decided on at on Wednesday.
SB 120 targets approximately $30 million through repealing 16 special funds and taking money from another 23 funds. The Department of Budget and Finance has said only about $13 million can realistically be tapped from these funds.
