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The University of Hawaii has been plagued by bad decisions, lack of accountability, construction backlogs and growing public criticism.

Lawmakers aim to take action when the legislative session kicks off Wednesday, particularly at the trouble-plagued flagship campus UH Manoa, UH West Oahu and UH Hilo.

Rep. Isaac Choy, head of the House Higher Education Committee, told Civil Beat one big concern is getting UH’s $487 million construction, repair and maintenance backlog finally on its way to completion. The majority is concentrated at UH Manoa, about $407 million worth.

Building and repairs have been dogged by delays and money issues, and are expected to cause big disruptions on campus over the next ten years. Choy has long been critical of the university’s financial management and lack of leadership.

According to Choy, throwing more money at the university isn’t the solution. “We have to refine our thinking,” he said. “What infrastructures do we have to build? As taxpayers, we want to be more efficient.”

Sen. Brian Taniguchi, head of the Senate Higher Education Committee, agreed and said that the university and lawmakers need to “figure out how to chop away at the construction backlog. How do we do it, and make sure there’s adequate staff?”

Taniguchi noted that the nearly half-billion dollar backlog at the Manoa campus will grow this year, probably by at least $2 million.

Another priority for the upcoming session, according to Taniguchi, will be to freeze the tuition increase, which was approved last year to go up more than 30 percent by the 2016-17 school year.

Choy says that he is not for or against freezing tuition, and noted that it’s ultimately under the Board of Regent’s control.

Right now, tuition is roughly $9,000 a year for residents, and it’s expected to rise to $12,000. Taniguchi believes that the university’s tuition fund “is a little black hole” that needs a closer look in order to see how the money is actually being spent.

“For legislators, generally, when we look at the “Wonder Blunder” and the hiring of different staff at relatively high amounts, there’s some question as to whether the university is able to really be accountable for its spending,” Taniguchi explained.

“There is some concern that their budget doesn’t quite match up with what was given over the years,” he said. “I’m not saying there’s anything inherently wrong, but they need to be more accountable for what they’re doing. They’re off on their own, spending money without accountability; we need to rein that in.”

Choy agreed, saying one of his priorities is budget transparency, sustainability and accountability.

One tuition plan being explored is by Rep. Gene Ward, who that wants UH to consider a program called a “pay-forward, pay-back” tuition program.

In this program, students would be contractually agreeing to pay their tuition off using a certain percentage of their income after they graduate. Oregon passed last year.

Ward’s bill is asking the UH to evaluate if the pilot program has any merit, to potentially replace the current tuition structure.

Along with construction, tuition and financial transparency, dealing with UH Hilo’s School of Pharmacy is critical this session. The school is in danger of if construction of a new building does not get underway this year.

Right now, the school is using multiple portable classrooms spread out on the campus for its roughly 360 students.

Initially, the project was going to be much larger, costing more than $100 million, but the price tag has dropped to roughly $30 million. “There’s more of a sense that it’s fitting to what they need, as opposed to a more grandiose type building,” said Taniguchi.

UH West Oahu, which has been hanging on by “the skin of (their) teeth” due to massive debt, according to administrator Donna Kiyosaki, is another priority. The school needs money to build more buildings, which is something the Legislature will be taking a look at. Lawmakers will also be deciding whether some of the land should be coming back to the state for use, and not just for the university’s use.

Ultimately, lawmakers want to accomplish more this year than just the routine maintenance projects.

“Hopefully it’s not just repairing toilets,” said Choy. “But if it ends up as that, I’m going to do my best to repair toilets.”