Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – A final version of the State Budget Bill (HB300 CD1) was approved last night by Senate and House conferees. The budget covers the next two fiscal years, 2024 (FY24) and 2025 (FY25), and provides appropriations of $11.3 billion and $10.4 billion in general funds, respectively.
Additionally, the bill includes a CIP budget of $2.9 billion in FY24 and $1.3 billion in FY25. $40 million ($20 million in operating funds and $20 million in capital improvement funds) were appropriated for grant-in-aid requests.
“This budget bill encompasses not only the priorities of the Senate, House, and the Governor, but it is also reflective of the concerns and issues that matter the most to the people of Hawaiʻi,” said Senator Donovan Dela Cruz (Senate District 17 – Portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, portion of Waipi‘o Acres, Launani Valley, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village), chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “In working collaboratively with the Governor and our colleagues in both chambers, we are confident that this bill will provide opportunities for Hawaiʻi residents not just to survive, but to thrive in Hawaiʻi.”
“We have proposed an aggressive, yet cautious and optimistic approach to building this budget,” said Representative Kyle T. Yamashita (House District 12 – Upcountry Maui), chair of the House Committee on Finance. "Enormous federal funding that helped all of us survive the pandemic has created an unintended consequence for all states. Governments have a rare amount of resources that, if strategically well spent, can pay dividends into the future. This is a budget that focuses on healing and investing in the future. We are increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates by providing over $72 million to our health care industry to make it more resilient in providing critical health care services, especially to lower income families. We are providing over $100 million to agencies responsible for healing our natural resources by fixing our parks and beaches, rejuvenating our conservation and preservation lands, and supporting our aquatic resources. We are adding $38.8 million to the Preschool Open Doors program that will get matched by federal funds, allowing us to expand public and private preschool and early learning opportunities to three-year-olds. We are investing over $300 million to increase our inventory of affordable housing for the middle class. Those are just four of the many examples of how we are setting up the state for decades of success."
HB300 CD1 now heads back to the floor of both chambers for a final vote before being transmitted to the Governor for consideration.
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