Lawmakers Agree on Spending Plan, Still Need $500M in New Revenue
04/28/2011
Chad Blair/Civil Beat
Hawaii lawmakers agreed on an operating budget Thursday evening that calls for spending an additional $800 million a year for each of the next two years.
The Legislature still has to come up with about $500 million in new revenues to pay for the plan.
Lawmakers wrapped up conference committee on House Bill 200, agreeing on an $11 billion operating budget for fiscal 2012, with $5.4 billion coming from the general fund. The budget for fiscal 2013 is $10.9 billion, with $5.5 billion in general funds.
That compares to a $10.2 billion budget for the current year — or about an 8 percent increase both years. The increases were mostly attributed to higher Medicaid and welfare costs, increases in public workers' health and retirement benefits, and debt service.
The conference committee also approved $1.8 billion for capital improvement projects in 2012 and $1 billion for 2013.
