State budget bill undergoes first revision

By Andrew Gomes for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

A state House committee has tweaked Gov. Josh Green’s proposed budget for next fiscal year with a roughly $100 million trim mainly from many relatively small changes.

After the bill was introduced in January, Green requested additions that included $5 million for the University of Hawaii to pay student athletes for use of their name, image and likeness. Additions also included about 80 specific environmental improvement projects recommended to receive $130 million generated from the beginning of this year through June 30, 2027 via a special “Green Fee” funded by an increase and expansion of Hawaii’s Transient Accommodations Tax.

The House Finance Committee included all the recommended projects in its draft of the budget bill except for three. Those three projects were essentially tasks for three state agencies to assess results of other projects in three portfolios at a cost of $500,000 for each portfolio. The committee instead approved $500,000 for one agency to do the same thing.

Click here to read the full article published by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Mar. 12.