House Committee Snips $226 Million Off Ige’s Budget Request
The state budget bill provides $25.7 billion in funding over the next two years.
The House Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Sylvia Luke, unanimously voted Wednesday to trim $226 million from聽Gov. David Ige鈥檚 state budget request for the next two years.
It was the first time lawmakers heard House Bill 500, which provides $25.7 billion in funding over the biennium for the vast majority of government services and programs.
In fiscal year 2016, which starts July 1, the House draft recommends cutting $92 million off of the governor鈥檚 request. For 2017, reps reduced the request by $134 million.
Rep. Sylvia Luke聽presides over the House Finance聽Committee’s consideration of the state budget Wednesday.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
There was little discussion over the recommendations during the 90-minute hearing, which also included committee approvals of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary budgets.
Luke gave Ige a head’s up about the cuts to the executive request.
鈥淭o my surprise he said, 鈥極h good,鈥欌 she said, noting his approval of tightening up the budget.
The bill now heads to a vote before the full House, which has until next Wednesday to approve it. From there, it will go through a similar process in the Senate, starting in the Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Jill Tokuda.
The budget ultimately gets resolved in conference committee, a panel of select lawmakers from the House and Senate. That process will likely occur in late April.
Read past Civil Beat’s coverage of the budget here.
