Gov. Josh Green’s agenda continues to clash with the state House and Senate.
“There should not be conflict,” Green said during a livestream interview Monday. “I will do my part to bridge the gap between people to the extent that I can, but sometimes, people will need to meet me halfway.”
A recent conflict emerged between Green and the House over funding for Hawaii County hospitals.
Green requested that $50 million from the state budget be used to expand Hilo Medical Center, but when the House released its initial budget on Thursday, the amount was cut in half to $25 million.
“We appreciate the governor’s continued support of health care in East Hawaii, particularly our ICU and (medical-surgical) bed expansion priority,” Dan Brinkman, CEO of Hilo Medical Center, told the Tribune-Herald on Monday. “We are working closely with our legislators in both the House and the Senate as to how best to achieve funding to improve our hospital’s capacity to care for our community here on Hawaii Island. In fact, I will be meeting with a number of them in person this week.”
Green sought another $22 million to help Kona Community Hospital, but the House cut that number even lower to $7 million.
“We need those appropriations,” Green said. “Kona has some significant challenges with their infrastructure as far as air quality, and if they can’t keep the air circulation going, you can’t keep Intensive Care Units open, you can’t keep surgical theaters open, you wouldn’t be able to actually deliver services there.”
Other disagreements resulted from Green’s cabinet picks.
Former Honolulu City Councilman Ikaika Anderson, Green’s nominee to be director Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, withdrew his name after a Senate committee voted not to recommend him for the post. Green then nominated affordable housing developer Kali Watson to replace Anderson, and said during the livestream Watson “appears to have the votes.”
Green also nominated former Hilo resident Chris Sadayasu to be director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, but a Senate committee voted not to recommend him to the full Senate.
“Am I disappointed that he didn’t win that committee over? Sure I am,” Green said, adding he and Sadayasu would meet later on Monday to discuss if they would continue forward with a full Senate vote. “There definitely could be a favorable vote for him, but I don’t like to put people through something if it’s not going to be fruitful.”
A showdown with the House also could occur over the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Green supported legalization during his campaign, and the Senate also voted in favor of it on March 7.
While the House passed a first reading of the Senate’s legalization bill, it has been referred to several committees, reminiscent of a similar Senate bill from last year that failed to pass the House.
Big Island Rep. Jeanne Kapela sponsored a separate bill this year that did not advance in the House, but said the bill passed by the Senate incorporated some elements from her measure dealing with social equity and a mass expungement program for those with marijuana-related convictions.
“Any bill that’s going to be about recreational cannabis use has to have social equity at its heart,” she said during a virtual town hall hosted last week by the Marijuana Policy Project. “Ending mass incarceration and establishing the biggest mass expungement program ever seen on our shores here in Hawaii is exactly the kind of systemic solutions that we should be pursuing, and I think that this bill takes a crack at that.”
But House Speaker Scott Saiki said during a previous livestream on March 1 that he favored shelving the legalization effort.
“We should wait and take a look at this over the summer,” he said. “And come back with a bill that’s comprehensive and addresses the concerns that are always raised about marijuana use in Hawaii, including the federal restrictions and law enforcement concerns.”
Green said he has instructed his cabinet to prepare for the bill in case it does pass the Legislature.
“I will sign the bill if it comes to me,” Green said. “The House is still making up their minds, it may not be this session, but that’s not a question for me.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com