HILO — The state House was kind to Hawaii Island this year, almost doubling its proposed spending for capital improvement projects compared to last year.
The $30.7 billion two-year spending plan passed Wednesday by the state House includes $389.3 million for the Big Island, according to the House communications office. That compares to $201.7 million last year.
Of the $6.3 billion in capital improvement funding, Maui is set to receive $484.4 million, and Kauai is set to receive $141.4 million in the House budget. The remainder is for Oahu or statewide initiatives and projects.
The Senate is finalizing its own budget, and representatives from both houses will meet in conference committees next month to work out the differences. The full spending package, once voted on by both the House and Senate, then goes to the governor, who has line item veto power.
The budget is especially kind to West Hawaii, where the Kona International Airport is slated to get $127.2 million for a training facility and federal inspection station and the Kona judiciary complex is still in line for $55 million for construction.
“This funding proposal shows recognition at the state Legislature that Kona has a lot of needs that haven’t been met for a long time,” said Rep. Nicole Lowen, who sits on the House Finance Committee and is a Democrat representing Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau.
“It will improve infrastructure for the community while providing jobs,” Lowen added. “It’s exciting to see it coming together.”
A new teaching hospital in Kona is also a priority for Lowen, who successfully put $1 million into the House budget for a feasibility study. Kona Sen. Josh Green, a Democrat and a physician, said he’s hopeful it will survive the Senate version.
“It’s a good start,” Green said last week. “We do need a new hospital quite badly, which will likely need to be built in partnership with Queen’s or another investor.”
Also in the House CIP budget is $1.5 million for track and field facilities at Honokaa Park for Honokaa High School; $800,000 for construction and completion of Milolii Community Enrichment and Historical Center; $5.2 million for improvements and upgrades to the seawater system at the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park (NELHA); and $300,000 for additional parking at Kealakehe Elementary School. A full list accompanies this article.
On the Hilo side, there’s $30.2 million for the Hawaii Army National Guard at the Keaukaha Military Reservation, $24 million to begin expanding Hawaii Community Correctional Center and $15 million to repair feeder roads and alternate routes to Highway 130.
Expansion of HCCC will be progressing slowly compared to more ambitious expansions of jails on Oahu and Maui. But state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said the department is satisfied with the funding, provided it survives through Senate amendments and the final vote.
Some of the money will be used to begin the design phase of a new building to house minimum security inmates at the current complex in Hilo. A Dec. 16 media tour of the facility showed that inmates are tripled up in cells, with one inmate having to sleep on a mat on the concrete floor.
“New housing can help, but it’s not going to solve it this year,” Schwartz said.
The smallest appropriation by far is $50,000 for a feasibility study for a South Puna small commercial airport. Sen. Russell Ruderman, the Democrat representing that area, began pushing for an airport there after the 2014 lava flow threatened to cut off access to the area. He said an airport is needed to ensure the region stays connected.
Ruderman said the amount is sufficient to get the project started.
“But (the state Department of Transportation) has said they will not do it,” Ruderman said. “They refuse to even consider it.”
