{"id":231093,"date":"2026-03-24T08:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=231093"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:00:06","slug":"2026-legislative-session-update-house-draft-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/24\/2026-legislative-session-update-house-draft-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Legislative session update: House draft budget"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"Hawaii<\/p>\n

\"Luis\"
Luis Salaveria<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

The Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Legislature is in full swing and just over half way through the process. The First Crossover deadline for bills was March 12, where bills that are still alive moved onto the other chamber (senate bills cross over to the House and house bills cross over to the Senate). There were more than 2,400 bills introduced this session and approximately 570 of those bills dealt with the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> either directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n

On March 18, the same major deadline was applied to all budget bills. The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Board of Regents\u2019 supplemental operating budget requested $18.8 million in additional general funds for the next fiscal year for university initiatives.<\/p>\n

The following table shows the supplemental operating budget comparison between the board, the governor\u2019s December submission, and the House Draft. Please note that the governor issued two budget Governor\u2019s Messages (GM<\/abbr>2 and GM<\/abbr>5) that included additional funding for UH<\/abbr>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Category<\/th>\nBoard of Regents<\/th>\nGovernor (Dec)<\/th>\nHouse Draft 1<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Healthcare Initiative<\/th>\n$3,724,600<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Athletics<\/th>\n$15,080,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aloha Safe Homes (GM<\/abbr>2)<\/abbr><\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$300,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Evaluate sea-level rise (GM<\/abbr>2)<\/abbr><\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Name, Image, and Likeness (GM<\/abbr>5)<\/abbr><\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$5,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center (GM<\/abbr>5)<\/abbr><\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$5,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
American Sign Language Programs<\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$140,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Information Technology Services<\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$150,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Community Resilience Hubs Pilot (UH<\/abbr> System)<\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Grand Total<\/th>\n$18,804,600<\/td>\n <\/td>\n$11,590,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

For the capital improvement projects (CIP<\/abbr>) budget, UH<\/abbr> requested $283.1 million for FY<\/abbr>27 in additional General Obligation Bonds to address capital renewal, progress on deferred maintenance and funding for projects to modernize each of the campuses within the UH<\/abbr> System. HB<\/abbr> 1800 HD<\/abbr>1 includes $188.5 million for FY<\/abbr>27 in General Obligation Bond funding for various projects.<\/p>\n

The following table shows the CIP<\/abbr> budget comparison between the board, governor and House:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Description<\/th>\nBoard of Regents <\/abbr>FY<\/abbr>27<\/th>\nGovernor FY<\/abbr>27<\/th>\nHouse Draft 1 FY<\/abbr>27<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Student Housing<\/th>\n$59,250,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n$28,500,000 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> System Renew, Improve, and Modernize (RIM<\/abbr>)<\/th>\n$100,000,000<\/td>\n$65,000,000<\/td>\n$80,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Hilo RIM<\/abbr><\/th>\n$30,000,000<\/td>\n$9,500,000<\/td>\n$9,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Community Colleges Capital Renewal & Deferred Maintenance<\/th>\n$30,725,000<\/td>\n$20,000,000<\/td>\n$20,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> RIM<\/abbr><\/th>\n$5,000,000<\/td>\n$3,000,000<\/td>\n$3,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Athletics Facilities<\/th>\n$11,000,000<\/td>\n$7,300,000<\/td>\n$11,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Community Colleges Minor CIP<\/abbr><\/th>\n$30,125,000<\/td>\n$20,000,000<\/td>\n$20,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waik\u012bk\u012b Aquarium<\/th>\n$10,000,000<\/td>\n$7,000,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Renovations for Health Program<\/th>\n$4,000,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n$4,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Maui College Vocational Training Center Modernization<\/th>\n$3,000,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Hilo Student Housing<\/th>\n <\/td>\n$5,500,000<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UH<\/abbr> Maui College – Hale Modernization<\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$9,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waialeʻe<\/span> Livestock Research Station Improvements (CTAHR<\/abbr>)<\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n$3,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/th>\n$283,100,000<\/td>\n$137,300,000<\/td>\n$188,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Legislature, along with non-essential state and county offices, closed operations on two separate days in the past couple of months due to extreme weather. These closures reduced the number of legislative days from 60 to 58, however, key deadlines agreed upon by House and Senate leadership prior to the start of session remain. With a little less than two months left before the adjournment of the State Legislature, all of our engagements with legislators help to advocate and ensure that public funding for university programs can continue.<\/p>\n

The next update will come after the next major deadline, which is Second Crossover on April 16 when bills still alive return to their originating chamber. This is then followed by conference committees during the last two weeks of the legislative session. The Hawai\u02bbi<\/span> State Legislature is still scheduled to adjourn on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mahalo for your time and attention,
\nLuis Salaveria
\nUH<\/abbr> Vice President of Budget and Finance\/Chief Financial Officer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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