Climate Change Projects Key As Lawmakers Rush To Finish State Budget

Chad Blair / Honolulu Civil Beat

By Kevin Dayton and Chad Blair for Honolulu Civil Beat

The Legislature needs to make decisions on all tax and spending bills by Friday in order to conduct final votes next week.

House and Senate leaders finalized a list of more than $120 million in “green fee” environmental protection and other projects late Thursday evening as they hurried to meet a critical Friday deadline to move the state budget forward.

The Legislature is racing this week to complete its work on hundreds of bills and position them for final votes next week, including a new $20 billion budget they presented Thursday evening to finance state government next year. Lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up their work for the year on May 8.

Still hanging in the balance are proposals to dramatically increase the state conveyance tax on high-end properties to help fund the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and another bill to ask voters if the state constitution should be amended to allow judges to remain on the bench until age 75. Currently Hawaiʻi judges must retire at age 70.

The new state budget, House Bill 1800, authorizes more than $4.5 billion in construction projects financed with state, federal and other sources of funding. Sen. Sharon Moriwaki said that includes $58 million for Wahiawā dam improvements, and Rep. Lisa Kitagawa announced lawmakers earmarked $446 million for repairs and upgrades to Hawaiʻi’s public schools.

Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz told staff and spectators gathered at a third-floor Capitol hearing room that “we’re proud to pass a budget that puts Hawaiʻi’s working families front and center.” He said the new budget features cost-saving measures that made it possible for the Legislature to preserve the bulk of the income tax reductions that were signed into law in 2024.

One of the most closely watched issues this year has been how lawmakers allocate money from the new green fee, which was created last year to finance projects to protect Hawaiʻi’s environment, prepare for impacts from climate change and promote sustainable tourism.

The green fee is financed mostly from an increase in the state hotel room tax, and is expected to raise more than $100 million a year. It is a major new pool of cash that appeared at a time when lawmakers struggled to balance the state budget. It’s become a tempting target.

The Green Fee Advisory Committee appointed by Gov. Josh Green vetted hundreds of proposals for green fee funding, proposing that lawmakers fund those that could be quickly executed with high impact, said Jeff Mikulina, chair of the committee.

But when the final list of green fee projects was released late Wednesday, it included some surprises such as $250,000 in funding for a cattle slaughterhouse and $1.2 million for a forage drying facility, which is used for dehydrating crops for livestock.

Click here to read the full article published by Honolulu Civil Beat on Apr. 30.