Senators from Maui in “full support” of State Operating Budget

With the State’s economy rebounding and significant increases in tax revenues, Maui County’s Senate delegation is in full support of the supplemental operating budget for fiscal years 2022-2023 as recently passed out of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. 

“With funding set aside for infrastructure, education, housing and health on the Valley Isle and statewide, we are heartened in anticipation of the needed work that will be done to improve the lives of our neighbors and friends on Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi,” Senators Gilbert Keith-Agaran (District 5 – Wailuku, Waihe‘e, Kahului), Rosalyn Baker (District 6 – South and West Maui), Lynn DeCoite (District 7 – Hana, East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Kaho‘olawe) said in a joint statement.  

The Senate draft of the State’s supplemental budget includes the following highlights that affect Maui County: 

• Add $2,000,000 in general funds in FY22 for early learning classrooms. 
• Add $3,600,000 in bond funds for King Kamehameha III Elementary School health and safety shoreline protection improvements. 
• Add $5,830,000 in bond funds for Baldwin High School athletic facilities. 
• Add $1,000,000 in general funds in FY23 to provide menstrual equity across the State. 
• Add $94,000,000 in general funds in FY23 for a pilot teacher salary modernization project. 
• Add $34,500,000 in general funds in FY23 for teacher salary differentials. 
• Add $3,026,000 in bond funds for Molokaʻi High School athletic facilities. 
• Add $1,200,000 in bond funds for Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary School for multipurpose covered facility. 
• Add $110,000 and 1.50 positions in general funds in FY23 for Maui College’s International and Regional Partnerships Program. 
• Add $4,000,000 in bond funds for Maui College Vocational Technology Center. 
• Add $1,000,000 for holistic student support and mental health services. 
• Add $33,333,334 in general funds in FY23 for the State match for the statewide broadband initiative. 
• Add $557,097 and 4.00 positions to address the teacher workforce shortage. 
• Add $1,933,365 in general funds in FY22 for library renovations across the State. 
• Add $45,500,000 in general funds in FY22 for centralized kitchens for the Farm-to-School program. 
• Add $600,000,000 in general funds in FY23 for homestead housing: 
• Add $487,614,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for plans, design, construction, land acquisition, and equipment for infrastructure including the following projects in Maui County: 
• Puʻunani Homestead Subdivision, Maui, a project for 161 new lots for $13,200,000; 
• Puʻunani Homestead Phase 2, Maui, a project for 140 new lots for $37,000,000; 
• Kēōkea-Waiohuli Phase 2B and Phase 3, Maui, a project for 76 new lots for $27,834,000; 
• West Maui Development – Leialiʻi 1B, Maui, a project for highway and parkway improvements, water development, and 250 new lots for $60,000,000; 
• Hoʻolehua – Nāʻiwa Agricultural Subdivision, Molokaʻi, Maui, a project for 58 new agricultural lots for $30,000,000. 
• Add $112,386,000 in FY23 for down payment assistance and mortgage payment assistance to beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, of 1920. 
• Add $8,923,000 in general funds in FY23 for Maui Health Systems operating subsidy. 
• Add $9,000,000 in bond funds for Maui Health Systems repairs, renovations, and upgrades for Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital, and Lānaʻi Community Hospital. 
• Add $500,000 in bond funds towards a Kalaupapa Memorial Monument. 
• Add $1,500,000 in funds for Kūpuna Caregivers across the state (ARPA). 
• Add $9,000,000 for the Kūpuna Care Program (ARPA). 
• Add $5,293,416 and 7.00 positions in FY23 for a statewide internship program that will place 300 interns and 30 Department of Education students across State departments. 
• Add $235,338 in revolving funds for 2.00 Elevator II inspectors/
• Add $2,000,000 in funds for FY23, including $260,000 for emergency food assistance program – Maui County. 
• Add $1,700,000 in general funds in FY23 for animal removal, applied research, surveys, and public outreach and education. 
• Add $45,000,000 for Kahului Airport terminal, systems and facilities improvements. 
• Add $73,000,000 for Kahului Harbor improvements. 
• Add $44,000,000 for various Maui state highway projects, including $24,800,000 for Puʻunene Avenue improvements from Kamehameha Avenue to Kūihelani Highway. 
• Add $1,500,000 in general funds in FY23 for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council. 
• Add $1,300,000 in general funds in FY23 of which $800,000 is appropriated for Axis Deer and ungulate fencing for local farmers. 
• Add $1,000,000 in general funds in FY23 for Axis Deer mitigation. 
• Add $3,456,489 in general funds in FY23 to address the Statewide nursing workforce. 
• Add $2,000,000 and 12.00 positions in general funds in FY23 for coastal erosion. 
• Add $146,000 and 3.00 positions in general funds in FY23 for the Maui Food Innovation Center. 
• Add $4,800,000 in general funds in FY23 for the Hawaiʻi Promise Program. 
• Add $3,340,000 and 6.00 positions in general funds in FY23 to expand JABSOM’s residency program to the neighbor islands.