Ige’s budget includes $5.7M reduction for UH-Hilo

The University of Hawaii is facing budget cuts totaling more than $78 million as part of Gov. David Ige’s proposed biennium budget, which was unveiled Dec. 21.

The cuts come from UH’s $526 million general fund base budget.

As part of the proposal, UH-Hilo is facing a $5.7 million loss, while the UH Community Colleges will see a proposed $23 million budgetary reduction.

Ige’s budget also calls for a $35.6 million reduction at UH-Manoa, $3 million reduction at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, a $2.7 million reduction to UH-West Oahu and an $8.48 million reduction to systemwide support

“As presented in the governor’s budget, there are no specific programmatic details for the reductions and particular impacts,” said Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, in a Dec. 22 update posted on the UH website. “However, the university has already been undertaking systemwide campus conversations with constituencies and stakeholders … for months to formulate different options and scenarios to address program revisions. This process could help inform how the university may have to accommodate funding reductions of this magnitude.”

Ige also allocated $10 million for fiscal year 2022 and $15 million for fiscal year 2023 in the capital improvement program budget for UH-Hilo, much less than the respective $24 million and $13.5 million the UH Board of Regents requested.

The base budget reductions are in addition to furloughs previously proposed by the governor but since delayed until at least July 1.

Ige’s budget includes reductions in the operating and capital improvement project budgets during the next two fiscal years as the state anticipates a $1.4 billion shortfall each year.